I'm a Skywalker too!
by Tellemicus Sundance
Summary: The Force works in mysterious ways. Some beings can interpret it's will, but none can truly comprehend it. Now, overcast in a terrible darkness, the Force will enact something that it has never done before. And the destinies of two young children will be forever changed as they struggle to fulfill the Force's will. But a balance MUST be upheld, so they will not be alone.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 01_

 **23:1:11 GrS**  
 **Tatooine**

The starship was nothing like what Luke had pictured in his mind it would look like. He had long dreamed of leaving the dusty, gritty sand world of Tatooine, flying out beyond the atmosphere and exploring the stars out there. In his childish imagination, the starship was always something state-of-the-art, shining in the suns' light and perfectly portioned, dainty in appearance but strong and fast.

Well, the starship he was heading towards was definitely something impressive, but Luke was far from eager or even interested in approaching it. The fact that he was being dragged on the ground with the grainy sands slipping inside his clothes only heightened his discomfort. But even that wasn't what was really scaring him, it was the fact that he knew, _somehow_ , that the one who had grabbed him and was taking him had bad intentions for him.

Luke had been busy out in the sands near his Aunt and Uncle's farm. He hadn't been able to sleep for some reason. There was this strange buzzing energy that was bubbling up inside him, making him restless. It was dark and cold outside, the most dangerous time for anyone to be out and wandering. But Luke had been confident that nothing would happen if he kept the homestead within sight. It wasn't like he planned on going far, he just wanted to alleviate some of his energy.

He didn't know where the creepy creature had come from. One moment, Luke was peacefully pacing around the outer perimeter of his aunt and uncle's farm, stargazing longingly. Then, he had been entangled by a stun net and collapsed limply to the ground after the net had discharged its electrical shocks, temporarily crippling his mobility. That had been scarcely an hour ago, and he was still unable to feel much of his body. In fact, he was surprised that he was even still conscious following that horrible experience.

"Another one for the market," the being dragging him reported as he reached the bottom of the ramp into the ship. Though he couldn't clearly see it, Luke could already tell that the ship before him was a murky black color, bulky and tall, with a pair of VTOL engines on either side of its large but narrow profile. The lights within the cockpit above him were glowing weakly, barely visible from even this short distance.

"Throw it in the hold," a voice above them answered, in the same slightly snarling tone as his captor had spoken. "This'll have to be the last one. The Minister is demanding we return."

"What's happened?" the first one asked as he continued up the ramp, still dragging like a useless sandbag further into the ship.

"Apparently, we've been a little _too_ successful in our raids recently," the second one said, pride evident in his voice. "The Empire has been receiving increasing reports of insurgent activity and treasonous acts all along the Rim, everywhere we've been recently or so we've been told."

"Ah!" the first one said, pausing only to open a doorway they'd reached. "So, the Empire's blaming us for sparking more rebellion then."

"That is what was implied, near as I can tell," the second said, no more disturbed by the accusation than his partner was.

"Well, it doesn't matter," his captor said. "With this batch, we're sure to reach our quota."

Any further conversation was abruptly cut off as they reached a small holding cell. The being dragging him quickly unwound the stun net and shoved his numbed body through the small entrance. Luke's breath was momentarily knocked from him as he landed heavily on the unforgiving durasteel floor, the ringing clang of the cage door slamming shut sounding quite deafening to his ears from behind him.

He didn't know how long he laid there, numb and unable to move. But he did know that after a relatively short amount of time, he could hear a dull roar start up as the entire ship started trembling. ' _We're taking off!_ ' he realized.

Finding a strength he didn't know he had, Luke was soon able to push himself off the floor. As he looked around his small cage, he spotted a cracked viewport nearby. Careful of his protesting body, Luke moved over to the window and stared out into the beautiful blackness beyond. His eyes widened greatly and his jaw dropped as he saw his first true vista of the incredible cosmos that was beyond his little sandpit of a homeworld. ' _So many stars! …Beautiful!_ '

Then, without warning, the stars suddenly shifted into long lines of light. Then, just as quickly, those lines twisted into a mesmerizing vista of blues, whites, and grays as the ship's engines let loose a mighty roar. The slave ship had just jumped into hyperspace and young Luke Skywalker's destiny was forever changed.

* * *

 **23:1:13 GrS**  
 **Alderaan**

As the princess of the ancient and noble House of Alderaan, heir of the planet, and the future leader of its people, Leia Organa was expected to conform to numerous traditions and regal expectations that her adopted ancestry was famed for. But the problem was that Leia was just…different.

Firstly, she was a tomboy, through and through. She'd much rather go running barefoot through the grass and woodlands, climbing the mountains and swimming in the mountainside lakes and ponds, and go flying on her pet thranta. Learning to be a 'proper lady' bored her to death, sitting through hours of lessons on etiquette, studying the many different physiologies and languages of the Coreworlds and Inner Rim worlds, enduring Imperial inspections and their 'order and control' philosophy, all of it just wasn't for her. She hated being trapped in this stifling life and position that she was brought into. Though, to his credit, her father Bail Organa did his absolute best to accommodate her and teach her, persevering through her childhood rebellions.

But that wasn't the only reason she was different from others. Sometimes, not too often but frequently enough, she would get sudden…feelings, urges, an awareness of something happening around her or beyond that she just couldn't or shouldn't know about. One of the early and major instances of this phenomenon was when she younger and somehow saved one of her companions from slipping on a wet patch on a bridge and falling to her death, even when she was physically too far away to reach her in time. Other times, she dreamed of a vast desert and young boy about her age there, though she was never able to ever see his face. And it was this particular strange feeling the seven-year-old girl was dwelling on now.

She was banned to her room this particular night by command of her father. She and her friend Winter had decided to pull a prank on one of the Ministers, but when the prank went awry because of the damage inflicted, she was sentenced to spend the night in her room and not be allowed to attend a party in the Grand Ballroom. After get again by her father and once again sent back to her room, Leia dreamed again of the desert, but this time very differently.

She dreamed of the boy getting ambushed and quite literally dragged into a spaceship and thrown into a prison cell. Needless to say, Leia awoke very concerned and unable to remove the images from her mind. In a desperate attempt to get the unhappy dream from her mind, Leia decided that she'd be a bad girl again and slipped out of the Royal Palace, over the wall, and out into the city beyond. She was heading for the Gingerbell Blossom Festival, hoping to have a good time.

Leia was now walking down a deserted street towards where she could the festivities were already underway, if all the lights in the sky and the loud, happy din up ahead was any indication. She was dressed in some simple clothes that wouldn't have been out of place on some normal girl her age and hiding her face under the hood of a light jacket she was wearing over her street clothes.

As she was walking, Leia was suddenly struck by an uneasy feeling. Normally, she wouldn't have paid these feelings any attention, she'd been raised to do by her parents. They always told her that if she followed those feelings too closely that bad things would happen to her and those around her. Perhaps it was because of the nightmare she'd had just last night, but she slowed in her walk until she came to a stop, trying to…feel where she felt this bad feeling was coming from.

"Well, well, lookie here, boys!" a loud voice said from behind her, causing Leia to spin around to face her stalkers. It was a trio of thugs. Just based on their clothing, Leia could easily see them being from the wild Outer Rim territories. One of them, the first speaker probably, had a hold-out blaster in his hand and pointed at her. "I do believe we've found ourselves a little runaway princess!"

"What do you want?" Leia demanded, unconsciously slipping in her 'princess voice' as she glared at them. Though she was backing away from them, they moved quickly to encircle her. " _Leave me alone!_ "

"You're coming with us, Princess," the lead thug said, grinning in a way that quickly made Leia feel uneasy and scared. "Senator Ask Aak wants to speak with you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you or that _dirty_ senator!" she snapped out, glaring at the speaker even she hunched down slightly in preparation to run.

"Kid, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," the speaker said.

But even as he said it, one of the others yanked out his own blaster and pulled the trigger, shooting out a stunner beam at the little girl. In a split second before the man did so, Leia felt an inexplicable sense of danger shooting through her. With that feeling of danger came a burst of speed and agility that she hadn't known she possessed, allowing her duck down into a crouch as the stunner flew at her.

"Go away!" she yelled. Even as the stunner passed over her, she was turning and throwing out her hands in a defensive manner, as though trying to push him away from her. Somehow, without even touching him, this act sent the assailant flying backwards into the wall of the nearest building several meters away. When this happened, the feeling of power that she hadn't even noticed rising up to the surfaced vanished.

Despite herself, Leia couldn't help but stare at the man in confusion, then down at her hands, unable to believe what had happened or how. And in this momentary state of confusion, she never noticed the second stunner beam that the third thug shot at her. She collapsed to the ground lifelessly as her world faded into blackness.

"The _easy_ way," one of the thugs said, sneering at the downed child.

* * *

 **23:1:15 GrS**  
 **Hyperspace, Corellian Run northbound**

Traveling through hyperspace wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Once the initial awe of the sights and realization that he was traveling across the galaxy had faded away, boredom had quickly set in. Luke grew sad, fearful, and angry as the hours crept ever so slowly by. With nothing to amuse himself with, his mind was forced to entertain itself.

He wasn't allowed to speak to either the slavers or any of his fellow slaves, none of whom he'd gotten a chance to meet or even seen yet. The first time he'd tried to ask the Zygerrian slavers some simple questions they had beat on him for several painful minutes. He wasn't allowed to make noise, or he'd be beat. He wasn't allowed to move about inside his cage too much, or he'd be beat. And he most definitely wasn't allowed to ask for any extra food or 'special privileges', or he'd be beat especially hard.

With nothing else to do, questions quickly filled his head. Where was he going? Why had these Zygerrians come to a dust ball as remote as Tatooine? Why had they taken him? What was to become of him? What was happening back home? Were Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen worried for him? Did they know what had happened to him? Could they somehow find a way to get him back? These questions and so many more, most without answers, bounced around his head for the better part of the four days they'd taken him.

Shaking his head, Luke forced himself to clear his mind of questions and thoughts. Thinking so hard about so many questions that had no immediate answers was getting him nowhere. All he could do now was try and get comfortable, to wait until the slavers arrived at their destination. When they arrived, then he might be able to finally get some answers. But until then, he would have to wait.

Taking a deep breath, he finally released his fears and doubt, resting his chin into his hands as he sat against the wall of his cell. Relaxing, he…felt something. It tingled at the edge of his awareness, just out of his grasp but close enough to be noticeable. What was that? Did it matter what it was? It wasn't like he could use it to open the door to his cell. As that thought passed through his mind, he pictured the door and the locking mechanism that held it shut, seeing it suddenly flip open as the door swung open slightly. The thought brought a small smile to his face. If only it was true…

 _Click!_

Startled out of his thoughts, Luke looked up and stared, blinking in disbelief. The door to his cell was unlocked and swinging open gently.

* * *

 **Hyperspace, Hydrian Way southbound**

Awakening from her stunned slumber, Leia first became aware of the fact that she wasn't in her own bed. The size and shape of the bed she lay in made that abundantly clear, it was hard and quite uncomfortable. The bedsheets weren't pulled up to her chest, as her parents were wont to do whenever they came into her room and saw them not so. The pillow under her head was every bit as uncomfortable as the bed, only just soft enough to not irritate the neck. But above all, the bed she was in smelled like unwashed urine and old alcohol, _extremely_ unpleasant.

Sitting up in a jolt, Leia quickly reached up to rub the dream sands from her eyes. This brought to her attention the fact that her hands were handcuffed together in loose manacles. They were clearly not designed for someone with wrists as small as her own but still tight enough that she couldn't escape. Where was she? What had happened?

"Mother? Father?" she called out, looking around the bedchamber she was in.

The bedchamber was small, somewhat cramped, and very simple with only the bare necessities, especially to her high-born upbringing. With only the small and smelly bed she was lying in, a series of cabinets underneath it, a desk and chair to one side which had a viewport over it, and pair of doors in the farthest corner one of which were likely the room exit and the other having a small refresher behind it. In a way, this simple set-up was a very nice change of atmosphere. But that thought was something that she refused to acknowledge as fear and uncertainty dominated her mind, especially when she saw the distinctive swirling blue-white colors of hyperspace glowing outside the viewport.

Climbing out of the smelly bed, she get to her feet uncertainly. Her legs felt weak and didn't seem to respond as they should've, which is what caused her to stumble and collapse in an undignified manner on the floor. Hoisting herself unsteadily back to her feet, she stumbled over to the desk, climbing up into the chair and staring out of the viewport window. To her horror and rising fear, her initial assumption had been correct. She was on a starship currently in hyperspace, likely very, _very_ far from home! Those thugs really _had_ kidnapped her! That thought caused a spark of anger to flare up in her.

"Father's going to be very mad," she muttered to herself, still staring out the window.

Then, before her very eyes, the spinning mass of the hyperspace changed into the stretched-out lines of stars as the ship's frame started trembling. Just as the trembling ceased, the star lines instantly halted into the normal pinpricks of light as the ship shifted out of hyperspace. In the distance, she could see a star, at least one planet nearby, and a long, _long_ line of starships.

Using what little astrological knowledge she had, Leia tried to pinpoint her location based on the constellations. It was hard work, since the vast majority of them differed greatly all through the galaxy. But there were certain well-known ones, especially those that were around heavily used hyperspace lanes. So, with that little bit of knowledge, she was able to identify one such constellation.

"I'm in the Denon system?" she asked herself, trying to fill the emptiness of her prison cell. "Where am I going?"

The hyperspace lanes over Denon were always crowded, like the intersections of two heavily-used streets in any city on any world. The traffic had to be carefully monitored and controlled to prevent any accidents and hyperspace mishaps. At any given time, the traffic jams could last as long as an hour until arriving ships were finally cleared to proceed to their next destination. This made the planet Denon a truly important strategic military and commercial world in the center of the Inner Rim, so the Imperial presence was quite powerful in this system as a result.

So, considering the already obvious long line of traffic, Leia soon lost interest in gazing out the viewport. Lowering herself back to the floor, she turned and carefully walked over to the door. The control panel didn't respond to her pushing the open button, flashing an obvious red warning sign of it being externally locked. Frowning angrily at the door, Leia turned away and began to explore the room.

The desk had nothing of interest to her, just a bunch of papers that looked like some kind of charts and financial statements, numbers and words that flew right over her head. Pushing those aside, she moved on. In the cabinets under the bed, she found a bunch of random clothes that were obviously someone else's, they were far too large for her to wear. Yet as she was digging in the lowest cabinet drawer in the farthest corner, she found a utility belt.

Excited at her discovery, she pulled it out and emptied the cargo pouches. Most of the pouches were empty, but she did find a basic comlink, a datapad, a holo-disk, and a broken glowrod. Shrugging, she put most of it back into its original pouches before securing it around her small waist. Picking up the datapad, she activated it and began scrolling through the information that was on it. As she was gazing at several of the different folders inside its database, one word in particular grabbed her attention instantly.

"Jedi!" she gasped, eyes widening in delight.

She'd heard so many stories about the Jedi, both from her father and everyone else. Most people had never met a Jedi before their arrest, persecution, and extermination for attempting to forcefully seize control of the Republic and execute the Supreme Chancellor. But her father was one of the very few who had met them, many of them in fact, and he always told her that the official story of the Jedi Order that was being broadcast through Imperial space was all a bunch of lies. Needless to say, given the contradicting stories and the overall secretive and magical aura of the old Order, the Jedi had quickly grabbed Leia's young imagination. Whenever she could, she'd find and devour any information about the ancient knightly order that she could get her hands on.

Opening and scrolling through the folder, she frowned. It was the all the same as the other stuff she'd found, the data that was published by the official Imperial sources. Always vilifying the Order and how it'd been toying with and controlling the old Republic for centuries. But then, hidden among the trash of lies, she noticed a few tiny gems of information that had survived the Imperial filtering process.

' _The Jedi's power was derived from an energy field that supposedly encompassed the entire galaxy commonly called the Force. The Jedi and many other mystical cultures have always claimed to able to connect and manipulate the Force when they were calm and at peace. But many modern research efforts into this supposed energy field have never turned up any_ _ **conclusive**_ _proof._ ' For some reason, this tiny bit of information rang a bell in Leia's mind. After only a moment of contemplation, she realized why when the memory of her kidnapping suddenly sprang to the forefront of her mind.

' _I_ _ **pushed**_ _that man away…_ _ **without**_ _touching him!_ ' she realized, eyes widening as the datapad fell from her suddenly numb grasp. She remembered now. The power, the sensation of being aware and knowing what was around her, connected to something…greater. She remembered her own shock, during which her grasp of the power suddenly slipped away from her. ' _Am I a Jedi too?!_ ' Snapping back to reality, Leia snatched up the datapad again and reread the passage about the Force. ' _When they were calm and at peace? What does that mean?_ '

After several long and fruitless minutes of pondering this strange information, she let out a sigh and shut down the datapad. Leaning back against the bed frame, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. All of this thinking on this mystery and trying _not_ to think about her situation was really starting to stress her out. As she finally calmed down and stared vacantly ahead, a strange but warm sensation began to reach her. Without any real conscious effort, she welcomed this warm and comforting feeling, drawing it into her and it in turn soothed her stressed spirit and fearful mind. Then, like a blind man suddenly opening his eyes and seeing the vast and beautiful world around him for the first time, Leia connected to this strange energy and suddenly she _knew_.

She knew… _everything_. She could…see, no _feel_ , where everything was. She could _feel_ the presences of many thousands of sentient beings around her, lined up in a long line that must've been several hundred kilometers long. She could _feel_ as some of those presences suddenly flashed away in bursts of immeasurable speed. She could _feel_ the presences that suddenly jolted to a sudden near-stop from those immeasurable speeds. She could _feel_ the blinding aura of many millions of peoples down on the nearby planet, causing the world to shine like a beacon in the new world she'd just entered.

But most of all, she could feel the presence of _another_. Curious, she honed in on this 'other' person. As she drew closer, Leia began gaining images. The image of a sinister murky black _Aurore_ -class freighter. The image of a cargo hold of sentients locked in far more barbaric prisoner cells than her own. She could feel the fear, the depression, the hopelessness, the anger of those poor trapped souls. Then the image of a young boy with sandy-golden hair in a dirty white tunic, who had somehow slipped out of his cage and was sneaking his way from one prisoner cell to another, opening each one. She recognized this boy. This was the boy from her dreams of sand and desert. But just as she got close enough to make out the boy's features, he suddenly stopped and spun around, seemingly looking right at her!

Before the surprise could fully set in, the surprise that the boy must've also sensed and reacted to her presence, something else happened. A new presence suddenly invaded their little meeting. But unlike the boy's presence, which was mostly bright and warm, even with his current unhappiness and fear staining his aura, this new presence was _cold_ , dark, foul. It was angry, _very_ angry. It was hungry, hungry for prey, hungry for _blood_ , hungry for _death_. And, worst of all, it was nearby _and_ _it_ _knew where they were!_

The sudden intrusion of this cold, lethal presence startled her, causing Leia to lose her focus and get yanked back to her corporal body. Jolting forward, she grasped her chest as she gasped, panting heavily in shock and surprise. And even though she'd lost her connection to…whatever it was, she could practically still feel that cold hunger gazing down at her, looking for her. An irrational fear suddenly sprang up in Leia as she realized that she and that boy were in incredible danger.

* * *

 ** _Black Wind_ , cockpit**

Rygar the Zygerrian was a slaver by trade, but that wasn't all that he was. He was also an Imperial privateer and a pirate. And he absolutely loved his professions. Unlike many in the galaxy, Rygar had benefitted immensely under Imperial rule. He could capture and sell slaves whenever he wished. He could attack and commandeer any private vessel under the suspicion of carrying illegal goods, though more times than not he planted such goods there. And he even had a special license to execute any rebels to Imperial rule without the need for a warrant.

Granted, he still needed to pay out a considerable fee to the Empire for these services. And he was still answerable to Imperial authorities and inspections, but those were minor annoyances at best.

As a pirate and a privateer, Rygar made it his business to always be on the lookout for suspicious vessels and personnel. However, as far as Rygar was concerned, this merely meant that he was always searching for any private starships that caught his eye. Particularly those that had unique engineering features, were very highly-priced or valued on the commercial and black markets, or just were pleasing to his eye. If he wanted them, he took them.

And he'd just found his latest desired vessel. It was a very rare _Baudo_ star yacht that had a very appealing blue and golden hull design that shined under even the faintest of light. It was currently in the line of traffic that was heading southbound, towards the Outer Rim territories, while he was flying northward towards the core. And while he was under a mandate to return with his cargo of soon-to-be slaves, it wasn't an immediate summoning.

"Think we got the time to bag ourselves a new trophy, Zygar?" Rygar asked, glancing over at his older brother as he pointed out his desired target.

Zygar looked over at him for a moment, before looking over at the Baudo critically. After a moment, he smiled, "Easily. Those yacht types are never very well armed or protected. What should our excuse be this time?"

"Hm…" Rygar hummed thoughtfully. "How about the 'magic user' excuse? We haven't done that one in a while." Of course, what he meant by 'magic user' was the Imperial proclamation of locating and educating special _gifted_ children to Imperial standards of behavior and law. These children were very, _very_ rare, so more times than not a search for one would quickly become fruitless and a waste of time.

"That could work," Zygar said, nodding in agreement. "But maybe we should throw in the old spice smuggling one as a failsafe."

"Good idea," Rygar agreed as he grabbed the controls and removed the autopilot. Rising up out of the traffic lane, he spun the _Black Wind_ around and flew towards the _Baudo_ that had already flown past them. As he was doing this, Zygar powered up the weapons and quickly got a target lock on the vessel, pummeling its pretty hull with blaster fire. Even though the pilot was caught by surprise, the blaster fire still was unable to penetrate the passive shields of the ship, even if they did rock and jolt it fiercely.

The _Baudo_ was forced to go into immediate evasive maneuvers, pulling out of the traffic lane in the process. The Zygerrian pirates followed it relentlessly, blasting away mercilessly. Reaching up to the comm unit, Rygar spoke out in the most commanding voice he could, "Attention, _Baudo_ star yacht, this is Imperial privateer vessel, the _Black Wind_. You are hereby ordered to cease all activities, shut down engines and shield generators, and prepare to be boarded for inspection."

" _ **Black Wind**_ _, this is the vessel,_ _ **Malastare's Pride**_ ," came the voice of the fleeing vessels pilot. " _Cease your attack at once! This is the private vessel of Senator Ask Aak of Malastare! You are assaulting an Imperial diplomatic vessel! This is an act of treason! I say again, cease your attack and we will not retaliate!_ "

The brothers glanced at one another for a moment. Then identical sneers crossed their faces. They were going to _enjoy_ this! " _Malastare's Pride_ , what are the _Imperial security codes_ of the Dustig Oversector?" The brothers didn't actually have such codes. No one outside of official Imperial channels were. Yes, there were many different ways to get them, but the cost of them on the black market just wasn't worth it for many of the smalltime criminals. So, they were quite confident that their prey didn't have the codes either.

And, indeed, there was a very long pause before the pilot spoke up again. " _Those are restricted to Imperial authorities only!_ " Rygar didn't even bother trying to reply. Zygar did it for him, opening fire once again with glee.

* * *

 **Imperial Star Destroyer, _Fury of the Empire_**

He had been kneeling in his personal chambers, meditating on the Force and continuing his endless mission for his dark master. His master had been quite explicit in his commands: locate any Force-sensitive children or teenagers, if they'd not serve the Empire, then to promptly execute them, along with any surviving Jedi from the Great Purge.

On paper, it was a simple enough task. But in execution, it was far, far more difficult to carry out. Most surviving Jedi would've learned many tricks to avoid capture or notice by this point, though they did occasionally slip up here and there. But that portion of his mission he mostly left to his brethren. He was personally more concerned with the so-called 'Children of the Force', those that had the potential to become dangerous enemies in the future if left unchecked.

But he didn't receive his rank of being the Fifth Hunter by being passive about his mission. Already, he had secured several dozen of them into serving the Empire as fledgling Dark Side Adepts, but he'd killed far more of them than he could easily count. The little kids were usually overconfident in their skills and abilities, rarely ever assuming that they were in contact with the single greatest power in the galaxy. Yet despite that, most of them were so self-centered and arrogant that he felt he was doing the galaxy a public service by getting rid of them early on.

The Fifth Hunter mostly kept his base of operations centered in the Denon system. With such a heavily-used hyperspace lane within his immediate proximity, he would easily be able to locate any as-of-yet undiscovered Force-sensitives as they traveled either core-wards or rim-wards. Coupled with his unique Imperial Inquisitorius license, boarding any ships and apprehending those Force-sensitives was an exercise in simplicity.

What the Fifth Hunter was searching for now was a challenge though. He'd grown bored of his self-imposed mission of locating the Children and he was now yearning for a challenge. A true test with a worthy opponent that he could triumph against. Then maybe he could elevated to the next rank of Fourth Hunter and be given even more power and privileges by his master to help him better complete his overall mission.

His meditation was interrupted when he felt something, a massive disturbance in the darkness. The galaxy as a whole was a vast blanket of darkness, despair, and other delectable dark emotions. So, what he was sensing now was the equivalent of a pair of 100watt lights bursting alight in the blackness of a cave. Those blinding lights of pure and concentrated raw power sent out waves all across the galaxy and the Force, like a pebble dropped into a pond, shining like beacons and attracting the attentions of all those sensitive to the nuances of the Force.

After several moments to collect himself and shore up his defenses against the shock of the disturbance, the Fifth Hunter quickly focused all his attention on those beacons. In his mind's eye, he watched as a pair of vessels in the hyperspace lane nearby, a Baudo and an Aurore, that were engaged in a dogfight. Focusing further, he gained a brief glimpse of a pair of children, one on each vessel, a sandy-blonde boy and a dark-haired girl. The girl was actively, if clumsily, scrying in the Force and also watching the boy, who was using small pulses of Force power to unlock prisoner cells.

However, despite his best efforts, it would seem that the children were both incredibly sensitive to the Force, as well as powerful. They both sensed his dark presence at the same instant and instantly withdrew from the Force. It was like slamming a door shut on his face, disorienting and completely unexpected, causing him to reel back in surprise.

Coming back to himself, he instantly stood up and marched out of his personal chambers. Once outside, he moved with a purpose to the hanger bay as he raise his comlink and contacted the bridge. "Captain, prepare my ship. I'm heading out to deal with that dogfight myself."

" _At once, milord!_ " the Captain answered promptly.

* * *

 ** _Black Wind_ , cargo bay**

Luke wasn't sure, but he felt that the ship had just entered combat. He could hear the loud bursts of noise as the blaster cannons fired and there was a sensation of fast and erratic movement under and around him. But he ignored that for now, doing his best to push the strange sensations he'd just felt to the back of his mind. The arrival of first the warm and bright presence of someone…familiar had caught him by surprise, but the startling arrival of the second and cold presence was like bucket of ice water. It washed away the warm feelings that had washed over him and he was fast to flee his connection to that strange power that he'd discovered.

Shaking his head again, he refocused on his goal: freeing the other twenty prisoners in the hold with him. Most of the slaves were asleep, but after he shook them awake, they were quick to escape from their cages and help him release the others.

The one he had to open now was the last one left, an elderly man with a dark skin tone and pepper-salt hair coloring showing his advanced age and dressed in threadbare rags. But that didn't soften the sharp gaze of something dangerous in his eyes as he watched the young Skywalker move forward and unlock his cage.

"Thank you, boy," the man said, crawling weakly out. Seeing the man's inability to stand on his own, Luke was quick to reach down and help him to his feet. But even with his feet under him, the man still heavily on Luke's small frame.

"What do we do now?" one of the released slaves asked, a young Togruta boy who couldn't have been any older than Luke.

"Find the escape pod and eject," one of the slaves said quickly. "I've worked on this ship type before, I know where they are. Follow me!"

The slaves followed the self-named leader easily as he moved off down the hall, towards a turbolift. But when Luke made to follow after them, the man leaning on him tightened his arm over his shoulder, earning Luke's attention. "Take me to the engine room, boy. I'm gonna get these bastards back for what they did to me— _us!_ "

Though Luke didn't want to oblige the man's demand, he wanted to follow the others and try to escape. But the gaze in the man's eye turned especially piercing and Luke could feel that he was intending to head to the engine room with or without Luke's help. Sighing heavily, Luke shifted the man to a more comfortable position and carefully helped the man walk into the back of the ship.

' _Why do feel like I'm forgetting something?_ ' Luke wondered to himself briefly, before forgetting that thought to focus on his task at hand.

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Not the best place to leave off the chapter, but I didn't want to reveal too much about what the rest of the story will be like until at least the second chapter. That's mostly due to a pet peeve of my in regards to this brand of story; authors jumping right into the 'big event' with little to no buildup in tension or introducing the characters involved.

But besides that, this is an idea that's been bouncing around my head for months. I hope you enjoy this story as much I will. Despite using an old plot device, I'm hoping to use a new type of storyline that doesn't fall into the classic plotlines that such an idea inevitably invoke. If anything else, the fact that there's likely going to be two different stories taking place, that should cause enough of a difference to keep you guys interested.

Just so we're clear, I'm using the **Great ReSynchronization** of Star Wars. So, 23:1:11 GrS roughly translates into the 11th Day of the 1st Month of the 23rd Year, which in turn translates into about 12 BBY. Luke and Leia are about 7 years old at this point.

FYI: I don't intend for this story to be a priority. I still intend to finish up The Lightsaber before really committing to this story or some other one that catches my interest.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 02_

 **23:1:15 GrS  
Denon Hyperspace Intersection  
Imperial Star Destroyer, **_**Fury of the Empire**_

Dropping into his starfighter's cockpit, the Fifth Hunter smirked in anticipation. Though he would never be overly powerful, with only a feeble midi-chlorian count of 7,000, he was still a very skilled pilot. His skill in all fighter-craft he'd ever flown was more than enough to enable him the very rare privilege of owning his very own TIE Advanced starfighter.

The TIE Advanceds were still _very_ new ships, designs purposely recommended and approved by Darth Vader himself. But for all their power and high praise, after scarcely two years, they were still yet to be put into full production, not that the Hunter minded. He felt that keeping these starfighters in limited quantities helped to provoke an added level of fear among their enemies, since only the truly best of the best would be piloting them.

Running through all the standard start-up checks and finding his fighter was already fully fueled and armed as he'd requested, he quickly lifted off and flew out of the Star Destroyer's primary hangar bay. "Shadows Two and Three, are you there?"

" _We're here, Shadow Leader_ ," responded Shadow Two immediately as two TIEs flew up in escort positions on his flanks. " _Ready and awaiting orders_."

" _There's a little dogfight taking place above the hyperspace line_ ," the Hunter said, his anticipation for a good fight sparking a rising level of aggression, which fed his power all the more, causing him to sneer widely behind his flight suit helmet. " _Once the appropriate warnings are given, if they don't comply, disable the vessels' shields and engines. Do not, I say again,_ _ **do not**_ _destroy these vessels_."

" _Yes sir!_ " his wingmates confirmed.

As the three starfighters approached the dueling vessels, the Hunter had to shake his head. The larger and heavier Aurore was quite obviously the aggressor. The Aurore was firing upon the wildly spinning, juking, and swaying Baudo yacht with a single-mindedness that showed far too much aggression and not enough tactical thinking for it to be able to tag and cripple the Baudo. But, if nothing else, he could understand why the Aurore's pilot wasn't trying to outfly the Baudo. The Aurore had little for mobility or even any remarkable speeds, but it did have heavy armor plating and strong weapons for a ship of its size. The Baudo was practically the mirror opposite. It had incredible speed, agility, and an ease of movement that very few ships of that size could match. But it lacked strong weapons, armor, and wasn't designed with combat in mind, which really shouldn't have mattered since it could easily outrun or outfly many common commercial ships.

The Fifth Hunter could guess what happened. The Aurore must've ambushed the Baudo, damaging its engines or some other internal systems. The fact that there was obvious black scorch marks of recent blaster fire staining its otherwise pristine hull was credence to that theory.

"Attention, this is the Imperial Inquisitorius," the Hunter declared authoritatively over the comm. "Cease your activities, shut down your engines and shields, and prepare to be boarded for inspection. This is your only warning."

There was a long moment of silence as both ships started drifting slightly, their respective pilots no doubt caught by surprise and were attempting to figure what course of action to take. But after a moment, the Baudo straightened itself out and began slowing its speed, though its shields remained active. The Hunter raised his brow at that, but decided he'd let that slide since that ship was technically the victim and clearly didn't trust the Aurore's pilot.

With good reason apparently as a loud, gravelly voice barked across the comm, " _This is the Imperial privateer vessel,_ _ **Black Wind**_ _, identification codes DJ493-DU33-832O. We are pursuing a lead on a spice smuggler and a_ _ **potential**_ _'Force' kid, don't interfere with our_ _ **operation**_ _. Now, why don't you fly back to your pretty little command ship and await our official report? If you really even_ _ **are**_ _an Inquisitor!_ "

Even without the Force, the Hunter could've heard the lie in that voice from across the other side of the galaxy. And the derision in the pilot's tone of voice as he spoke not only of the Force-sensitive but also of his own status as an Inquisitor that sparked a fury so hot in his gut that it burned cold. Now, granted, the Aurore's pilot could be somewhat justified in his obvious disbelief in the Hunter's authority. The Imperial Inquisitorius was a shadowy entity that was only whispered about in fear, about as real as ghosts to the common folk of the galaxy at large. But this knowledge didn't dampen his rage in the least.

"Open fire!" he barked.

He and his two wingmates fired their laser cannons with lethal precision, pummeling the Aurore as it turned one of its cannons to fire back at them. Pushing himself in a dizzying series of spins and barrel rolls, the Hunter swept low and under the firing arc of the Aurore's cannon. Instantly, he started pummeling the underside of the closest engine, rocking the entire ship visibly as the armor panels over the engine started reddening from the heat of the laser strikes. His two wingmates didn't accompany his maneuver, instead flying off in opposite directions to attack the marauding freighter from different angles.

As he flew underneath the Aurore, the Hunter grinned as he watched the Baudo try and flee the battlefield while he and his wingmates were distracted. "Shadows, continue your attack on the Aurore. I'm going after the Baudo."

" _Yes sir!_ "

* * *

 _ **Black Wind**_ **, engineering room**

"Hand me the hydrospanner," the elderly man said, holding out his hand expectantly from his position under the massive hyperdrive unit. Luke did so after a moment of fumbling, careful not to touch the sensitive points of it and giving it gingerly to him. "Thanks."

"What are you doing?" Luke finally asked from his position next to the door, where he was keeping an eye out for either of the Zygerrians.

"Leaving a little present for our dear captors," the man growled out sinisterly. "Next time they try to jump to hyperspace, they'll be in for an unwelcome surprise."

"What kind of surprise?" Luke asked, both knowing what the man was hinting at but also uncertain that his guess was right.

"The fiery explosive type," the man said, confirming Luke's suspicions. "We'll just have to make sure we're far, far away when that happens though." With one final sharp movement, the man dropped the tool to the side as he slid himself out from underneath. "All done, let's get to the cargo bay."

"Huh?" Luke said, blinking in surprise even as he helped the man back to his feet. "Why there? Shouldn't we go find that escape pod that the others are looking for?"

"No," the man said firmly. "Tell me, boy, have you ever heard of the swimming krayt dragon of Tatooine? It's the single most dangerous predator in all the galaxy."

"What?" Luke said, understandably confused as he hefted the man's arm over his small shoulders. "But there is no water on Tatooine. There are no rivers or lakes. So, krayt dragons can't swim!"

"Exactly," the man said, smiling down at the boy with a rather demented grin. "That's why the swimming krayt is so dangerous: it'll strike from the least likely spot imaginable!"

"I…don't get it," Luke admitted. Well, technically, he _did_ understand what the man was saying. But how did that compare to their situation right now?

"I've been on this ship for weeks," the man said, his expression hardening again. "The Zygerrians stored a starfighter of some kind in the cargo bay. We can use that fly away and maybe even help protect the others' escape pod. The Zygerrians will never expect us to do such a thing as that. They'd think that all of us were aboard that pod, and that they'd easily recapture us because of that."

"Oh, okay," Luke said, smiling somewhat now that he understood what the man wanted to do. " _I'll_ fly the ship! I'm a _great_ pilot! You can be my gunner, old man."

"I ain't _old_ , boy," the man snapped, though there was a hint of amusement in his tone now. "I'm just more _dignified_ and _experienced_ that a youngster like you."

"Sure thing, old man," Luke quipped, smiling happily at seeing the man seeming to come out of funk.

As the pair were slowly making their way back the way they came, the slaver ship started shaking violently. So much so that the man lost his feeble footing and fell to the ground, taking Luke with him. Even as they were falling, a panel on the wall next to them suddenly exploded, sending fire and shrapnel around them as they fell. Quickly climbing back to his feet and holding his hand up to protect his face from the heat of the burning fires, Luke grabbed the man's threadbare shirt and hurriedly dragged him away from the danger.

After several long moments, Luke finally stumbled to a halt and tried to lift the man back to his feet. But, unlike all the other times, the man didn't try to get his feet under him. His breathing had turned weak and ragged, seeming barely able to bring in enough air. It didn't take much for Luke to spot the rapidly spreading wet patch of redness in the man's side that had been closest to the small explosion.

"Hey, mister!" Luke said, suddenly fearful for his friend. "Come on, get up! We need to leave!"

"No…" the man gasped out, weakly shaking Luke's hold off of him. "You…go… I'll only…slow you…down."

"No!" Luke cried out. "I'm not _leaving_ you! I'm gonna _save_ you!"

The man looked up at Luke's pleading face, which already had a couple tears sliding down his cheeks. "You already…did…when you…let me…out…" Then, after taking a long but shallow breath, he gasped out, "Now…go…." His eyes slid closed as his pain and world faded away and ended, his body going limp and falling back to the floor.

Luke couldn't stop the tears that fell. He had…felt it. He had felt it as the man's life force faded away and vanished. It was terrible, so painful. He didn't ever want to experience something like that ever again! For a long moment, Luke just stayed there, crouched over the body of the man he barely knew but still wept for him all the same. But his grief was soon brought to a premature halt as the ship around him rocked violently once again. Rising quickly to his feet, Luke ran back the rest of the way to the cargo hold. He stopped only once to look back at the man as he reached the door.

Opening the door, he quickly spotted what he hadn't noticed earlier in his desperate desire to help the other captives. The front portion of the cargo hold was mostly dominated by a black and red painted starfighter. The starfighter had a pair of wings on either side of its long fuselage with a pair of long cannons upon the upper ends of them. The cockpit was a bubble shape just ahead of four engines mounted at the base of the wings and fuselage. He vaguely recognized this spacecraft as a Z-95 Headhunter.

Running forward, he climbed into the cockpit and pulled the canopy closed securely, quickly starting up the Headhunter's engines and computer. A quick check at the fuel gauge had him sigh in relief, the tanks were all full and ready. Although, it looked like the missiles were a little low with only three of the potential six loaded. ' _Oh well_ ,' Luke thought grimly. Finishing up the startup sequence, he hit the launch button that sent an order to the slaver ship's computer to open the cargo bay doors.

"What are you doing in there?!" a loud voice cried out from just outside the cockpit, surprising Luke as he flinched away from it. Looking up, he flinched even more when saw one of the Zygerrians just outside, trying to force open the cockpit hatch. "GET OUT NOW OR I'LL—!" Whatever he'd been about to say was forever silenced as the cargo bay doors swung open, the vacuum of space sucking out all air and loose objects. The unprepared Zygerrian was among those objects since neither he nor Luke had yet thought to set up the magfield to contain the atmosphere inside.

Unlike when his friend died, Luke felt almost no remorse when he sensed the slaver's life get extinguished in a far more abrupt and painful manner. ' _He'd had it coming_ ,' Luke quietly decided as he forced the sensation to the back of his mind, even as he boosted the thrusters and shot out of the confined space of the cargo hold. Almost immediately, he'd wished he could fly back inside as he found himself dead center in a space battle he felt he was woefully unprepared for.

* * *

 _ **Malastare's Pride**_ **, Leia's cabin**

When the ship started rocking and shaking, Leia hurried over to the viewport to see what was going on outside. Sure enough, during some of the maneuvers that the ship she was on was doing, she caught a glimpse of that very same black vessel that she'd seen in her vision. It was attacking her vessel with a dogged fierceness that was terrifying to the young 7-year-old.

Seeing the larger freighter come rushing towards her, cannons blazing and the lasers striking the hull scarily lose to her viewport, Leia scampered away. She ran to the door and started beating on it, screaming for her captors to let her out. She beat it so hard that her small hands quickly started going numb from the throbbing pain. " _Let me out!_ "

Apparently her screams and the banging on her door were heard, as the door slid open after several long minutes of relentless pounding. One of the thugs stood in the doorway, his hold-out blaster thankfully in its holster. "Will you _stop_ making _so much_ — _HEY! GET BACK HERE!_ "

Leia hadn't bothered trying to listen to him, she'd slid around his large body will all the speed that her small frame could muster and slipped out into the long hallway beyond. But, as frightened as she was, Leia's wits hadn't deserted her entirely. Once she was out in the hall and behind the man, she felt her connection to that strange power return. Her heightened emotions and terror allowed her to touch it much quicker and easier this time. So, when she was behind the rapidly turning man, she'd thrust forward with her hands and blasted him at point-blank range with a strong push. The man rocketed backwards into her room, slamming into the opposite wall with bone-crushing force before slumping unconscious to the floor. Not willing to risk the man waking up, Leia quickly shut and locked the door.

"Now, to get to the cockpit!" Maybe if she could reach the cockpit, she could find the comm system and call for help. Or, failing that, maybe she could fly the ship herself. The fact that she had neither the skills nor the knowledge necessary to perform either of those tasks adequately didn't really matter to her at this moment. All she knew was that she had to do _something!_

Hurrying down the hallway, she came upon an open hatch that had a ladder that led up and down into what looked like little windows. " _Harrus! Get into that turret and give us some kriffing covering fire!_ " a loud voice cried out over the intercom.

Knowing that she was also in danger, Leia quickly grabbed the ladder and lowered herself down into the gun turret below. Climbing into the gunner seat that was several sizes too large, she easily found the activation button and grabbed ahold of the firing controls, spinning the chair around to search for her enemies. Seeing the approach of some kind of TIE fighter that was firing its lasers upon her ship, Leia quickly squeezed off some shots, not really bothering to try and zero in on the fighter, just trying to fill the space with laser fire and scare off the attacker.

The strange, bent-wing TIE fighter didn't slow its approach as it fired, scoring a couple hits on the hull. Seeing that she was missing badly, Leia started focusing on the targeting computer more, watching as the small fighter zipped and danced around the center. Chancing a shot as it drew closer to the center, she let out a cry of triumph as her shot hit the starfighter. But her joy quickly faded when she saw the starfighter was largely unaffected by the blast. ' _It's got a shield?! But TIE fighters aren't supposed to have any!_ ' a childish pout spreading across her face at that revelation.

In response to her hit, the TIE launched a missile. Knowing just how dangerous missiles were, Leia frantically opened fire, aiming for the small and fast-moving object of destruction. None of her shots were connecting! In her fear and desire to survive, Leia once again delved into that power again. She could feel it, giving her gentle nudges in the right direction. As a result, one of her shots struck the missile and caused it detonate prematurely. Letting out another cry of victory, Leia swung her gun turret around, tracking the TIE as it flew past the vessel.

Her cry was once again silenced when she suddenly felt it again. In that strange awareness, Leia could feel that cold, hungry aura that she'd felt earlier. She could feel its mounting aggression and anger, but also anticipation for a good fight and even a faint touch of respect at her marksmanship. To her great frustration, she saw the bottom portion of the fighter as it pulled upwards and out of her field of fire.

' _ **LEAVE ME ALONE!**_ ' she shouted into that strange power, knowing that her opponent could hear or at least understand her. And, indeed, he most assuredly did. She could sense his dark amusement, even as the ship above her started rocking violently from his shots.

As her frustration was starting to mount, something else happened. It was like a warm, calming breeze suddenly swept over her, filling her up, rejuvenating her. And suddenly she smiled, knowing that she wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

 **Z-95 Headhunter**

The battle had carried the cluster of ships quite a ways away from the main traffic lanes. That was good for the freighters and transports, since there was less of a chance of them getting struck by errant laser fire. But it was also bad for the combatants as it gave them more chance to focus on one another than their surroundings. The two TIE fighters were circling the damaged Aurore freighter like a pair of carrion birds stalking a wounded prey. The Baudo was still trying to flee the scene, but the TIE Advanced was relentless in its pursuit, hammering at its shields and vulnerable areas mercilessly.

This was the chaos that Luke entered when the Z-95 shot out of the cargo hold.

"This is intense!" Luke cried out, swinging the Headhunter into a dizzying spin as he fumbled to activate the starfighter's shields. One of the TIEs had peeled off from their assault on the Aurore and was now chasing Luke, blasting its cannons at the smaller and faster target than the freighter, though it was still slower than the TIE. Pulling back on the joystick and throwing the Headhunter into a roll, Luke swung around in the opposite direction that he'd been fleeing in. This maneuver caught the TIE pilot by surprise, but the experienced pilot quickly adjusted and followed.

Glancing at his computers, Luke let out a small sigh of relief when he saw the shields were glowing blue, fully powered up and ready. Continuing his turn, the Aurore came back into view and Luke was able to glimpse the rear portion of the vessel suddenly detach and start fleeing away. The sight of that put a smile on Luke's face, the others had managed to escape after all! But his relief was quickly washed away as he watched the other TIE shoot off after the escape craft.

"No!" Luke cried, gunning the throttle as he brought the targeting computer online. "Leave them alone!" Blue laser bolts shot out of his cannons as he rushed the TIE from the side, its solar panels blocking his approach from the pilot's view. One of the lasers struck the rear of the panel and sent the TIE into a chaotic spin, though it didn't explode. "YEAH!"

His triumph was short-lived as the TIE that was still behind him opened fire on him, pummeling his shields with obvious anger and aggression. Swinging his head around, Luke caught sight of the TIE as it was in the process of lining him up for a kill shot. "You want me?! Come and get me!" Somersaulting, spinning, and rolling, Luke's Headhunter went into a dance that would've caught any pilot by surprise if they'd known that it was only a child behind the controls. The TIE did it's best to keep up with him, but it found itself slipping farther and farther behind the wildly dancing Headhunter.

"Where you _at_ , you big fat bantha?!" Luke called out, smiling far more widely as his enjoyment of the dogfight started reaching him. This was the type of adventure he'd been dreaming of having! "Come on! _Come on!_ " A series of green lasers shot past his cockpit, missing him but hitting the Aurore inside its still open cargo bay. " _What're you shooting at, sleemo?!_ " Luke cried out, swinging away from the Aurore again and flying off to the side. " _I'm_ the one you want!"

The TIE continued its pursuit, chasing after the Z-95 Headhunter with a single-minded determination to see its target destroyed at all costs. Grinning as an idea hit him, Luke abruptly slammed the brakes on, throwing his starfighter into a reversal. This maneuver caused him to end up facing backwards even as his ship continued on its previous course. The sheer unexpectedness of this move caught the TIE pilot by surprise for several critical seconds. Seconds that Luke wasted no time in using to blast the fragile starfighter straight through the cockpit, killing the pilot and destroying the craft instantly.

Reorienting his craft and boosting his thruster, Luke swung the Headhunter to the side. A relieved smile crossed his face as he saw the escape craft filled with his fellow slaves making its escape to Denon nearby. ' _They'll be alright now. Thank goodness_.'

That was when he felt them again. That cold, evil presence and the bright, warm presence that he'd felt earlier were nearby. And they were in battle, he could feel it in the emotions that the two were giving off. The anger, the hate, the aggression, the frustration. For the dark presence, it was like a bad smell getting even worse. But for the brighter presence, it was like a terrible stain that was ruining the quality of a priceless painting.

In response, Luke swung his Headhunter back around and raced towards the second vessel and the last remaining TIE fighter. Unlike last time, he didn't pull back from the strange power that he'd felt. He didn't shy away from the dark presence as it soon turned its attention to him. He _embraced_ the power, allowed that strange awareness to consume him, let his presence be felt by all who could feel him nearby. He _wanted_ them to know he was here. He _wanted_ to let them know that he was coming. He _wanted_ that stain to be cleansed as quickly as possible. And it seemed that in doing so, letting himself be known, that the dark stain rapidly diminished.

Turning his attention to the strange bent-wing TIE fighter, Luke glared at it. "You _want_ us, don't you? Not if _I_ have anything to say about it!"

But before their dogfight could begin, something happened. It originated from the damaged Aurore. The remaining Zygerrian slaver, knowing that he was in deep trouble and alone, had attempted to get his ship to jump into hyperspace and flee the scene. One of the Aurore's engines was damaged, a burning wreckage that would need to be repaired immediately. Even with just one functioning engine, the ship was still hyperspace capable, as was in its design features. But, when the Zygerrian pulled the lever to make the jump, whatever the elderly slave had done to the hyperdrive was triggered.

The hyperdrive ruptured and, fed by the ship's explosive fuels, a devastating explosion ripped the ship to pieces. But that was only the first pulse of the detonation. The second detonation caused a vast shockwave of blue and white energy that rocketed outwards in all directions at speeds no ship could possibly outrun. When the shockwave struck the long line of civilian transports and freighters, it seemed to split the ships into many tiny pieces, incinerating all within its blast radius. However, when that same blast reached trio of ships that were closest to it, something unique happened.

Because Luke, Leia, and the Fifth Hunter had submerged themselves into the currents of the Force, they had unknowingly provided themselves with a powerful protection. The Force worked to protect them from the lethal hyper-energies that had been unleashed, forming bubbles of impenetrable energy around them and their ships. Yet that same protection also caused an unforeseen event to occur. The hyper-energies pulled at those bubbles of power and started sucking them into the heart of the hyperdrive explosion, not unlike how a black hole would affect any other galactic matter. When all of them reached the centermost point of the explosion, they were suddenly expelled outwards at high speeds. Their ships were sent spinning and tumbling uncontrollably for long moments as the three of them were deeply disoriented from the harrowing experience.

All of this occurred within the time span of less than a micro-second.

Fighting against his urge to vomit, Luke managed to aim his Headhunter at the TIE and fired one of his precious three concussion missiles. Thankfully for him, the dark pilot of the TIE didn't have his same reflexes or reaction speeds and couldn't evade the missile. The missile struck his starfighter in its armored chassis next to the cockpit and exploded. Despite the direct hit, the armor and the TIE's shields were strong enough to negate much of the damage, but the explosion still sent the starfighter flying off uncontrollably in a different direction, far away from the still tumbling yacht.

Seeing the yacht wasn't regaining control of its flight, Luke reached out his awareness towards it. He couldn't sense anyone left alive aboard it, except that one bright presence that had originally drawn him to it. ' _Get up!_ ' he pled to the person. ' _Get control! Fly it! You're in trouble!_ '

Despite still being disoriented and even a little concussed, the Fifth Hunter was able to get his ship under control and flew his starfighter off towards where his Star Destroyer had been waiting in the distance. He needed to reorient himself. Those two Children were far more powerful than he'd first thought, but they likely were in no better condition that he was. He could send his other pilots and underlings to capture them now. They'd likely meet with no real resistance at this point.

Neither Luke nor Leia paid the fleeing TIE any mind as they each tried to find a way to get the tumbling Baudo back under control.

* * *

 _ **Malastare's Pride**_ **, lower gun turret**

' _Get up!_ ' a voice was crying in her mind. ' _Get control!'_ Leia opened her eyes from where she was slumped over the firing grips of her turret cannon. Her body felt unbelievably exhausted, like she'd spent the last 10 hours doing hard labor with no breaks to rest. Her head was throbbing. _'Fly it!'_ What was going on? What had happened? Leia's disorientation was slowly starting to clear she stared around the gun turret she was in. _'You're in trouble!_ ' That frantic shout finally penetrated her befuddled mind, as well as the boy's genuine concern and fear for her well-being.

Hastily climbing back to her feet, Leia hoisted herself back up the ladder she'd descended. Pulling herself up one rung after another was an exercise of strength and endurance she wasn't accustomed to doing, but she pushed herself on regardless. The voice in her mind egging her on, pleading for her hurry, also helped to motivate her onward. Reaching the hallway, she stumbled out of the ladder well and took a few precious seconds to regain her breath.

' _Hurry!_ ' the boy was yelling. ' _You're falling towards the star!_ '

"The star?!" That realization ignited a burst of strength in her limbs, allowing her to jump to her feet and rush towards the cockpit. She honestly didn't know where the cockpit was. She was just following her gut instincts, feeling some kind of strange force that was guiding to where she knew she _needed_ to go.

At the end of the hallway, she came across a locked door. Reaching out her hand, she imagined the door locks unclamping and the door sliding open. The power she felt enacted what she wanted to have happen. In response, the door slid open easily, seeing a blinding yellow star up ahead of the ship whenever the tumbling ship's viewport swung in that direction. The cockpit was empty, so she had no problem rushing into the pilot seat and grabbed the controls. Adjusting the stabilizers and boosting the engines, she pulled back on the controls.

After several long moments of tension, the chaotic tumbling of the ship finally halted. Leia's grip on the controls tightened as she continued pulling the ship upwards, pointing the bow away from the star. It was an agonizingly slow process for the young girl. When she felt it was time, with the bow angled upwards suitably, she boosted the engines to their full thrust, blasting forth with all their power.

Long moments later, the blaring alarm and flashing red lights that had filled the cockpit finally died down. Leia eased off the throttle and leaned back into the chair, feeling exhausted and weary in more ways than she'd ever felt before. In her exhaustion, the pilot's seat suddenly felt so much more comfortable than any other chair she'd ever sat in and she felt herself starting to drift off to sleep.

Just before that could happen, a chime lit up on the control panel, snapping her back to the present. Reaching forward, she hesitantly hit the comm system button. "Y-Yes?"

" _You okay?_ " the voice was clearly that of a young boy. Movement and light outside her cockpit window drew her attention as a black and red starfighter pulled up level with her ship. Across the distance, she could faintly make out the small frame of the pilot in white clothes. " _Is everything alright in there?_ "

"I'm…I'm fine, just tired," Leia admitted, looking curiously over at the starfighter. "Who _are_ you?"

" _Is it okay if I come aboard?_ " the boy asked instead, exhaustion evident in his voice. " _I'm_ _ **really**_ _tired too_."

After a moment of contemplation and slight pouting at the boy avoiding her question, Leia nodded, "Yes, please come aboard. I'll meet you at the airlock."

Setting the ship to standby, she set the computer to accept the docking of the starfighter against the airlock. Normally, linking up and docking a starfighter and a regular vessel would've been an act of futility since there was no easy way to get from one to the other without the pilot getting exposed to hard vacuum. However, the children were fortunate that the Baudo had a special lower docking clamp underneath it with an adjustable magfield-protected ladder section for such occasions. This was how the two children found themselves facing one another a few short minutes later, the boy climbing slowly out of the cold tunnel into the ship above.

Helping the boy to his feet, Leia stepped back and stared at the sandy-blonde boy, who was also staring at her with an equally evaluative gaze.

"Hi," the boy said, somewhat timidly now that he was face to face with her. "I'm Luke Skywalker of Tatooine. Who are you?"

"I am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan," Leia said, nodding her head slightly. "Thank you for saving me."

"Thank you for letting me on," Luke said, smiling weakly before a wide yawn hit him. "Can I borrow a bed? Please?"

Leia nodded, also desiring some sleep and rest from their big adventure. "I'll go set the autopilot for Alderaan, then let's find you somewhere to sleep." It was a sign of Luke's exhaustion that he didn't question her when she said where she wanted to go. All he wanted was a bed, or at least a blanket, to sleep on. His eyelids were already drooping heavily as he shuffled after the girl, who was only marginally less tired than him.

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Wow, I really wasn't expecting this chapter to come out so quickly after the first. Maybe it's the recent Third Trailer of Star Wars 7 that inspired me to keep working? Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed this little space battle. I know I probably made Luke a _lot_ more badass than he should've been at this point in the story, but I just couldn't help it. Look at how badass Anakin was when he was _nine_ in a N-1 or a podracer! I didn't think it was too much of a jump to say that Luke could've mirrored his father in this regard.

Big time thanks to my friends **animefan29** , **Fiori75,** and **SulliMike23** for reviewing this chapter for me!

Anyway, the next chapter is probably going to be the make or break one for many of you readers. It's going to be the one that shows _exactly_ what kind of story this is going to be. I hope you're ready for it, because this story is going to go way, _way_ off of the beaten path of canon in some regards!


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 03_

 **Denon**

Sitting up from the bed he was in, the Fifth Hunter stretched his arms and quickly shook the sleep from his body and mind. Reaching out into the dark side, a smile crossed his face as he once again felt his connection to the all-powerful energy field had been restored. Climbing to his feet, he quickly made his way into the refresher and got ready for his day. Several minutes later, his skin still damp from the moisture. Donning his Inquisitorius gear and armor, he hung his saberstaff upon its mount on his back before departing the room. As he exited the hotel room, the Hunter couldn't help but shake his head at everything around him.

He didn't know how or why, but everything was…different than what he knew it should've been. There were no Imperial banners, no patrolling stormtroopers, and there was a sense of…energy that filled the air around him. It made him uncomfortable and angry, but he kept control of his temper, keeping it tightly bound and hidden beneath his imposing exterior. Many of the denizens of the planet took one look at his large, powerful frame and quickly shuffled away from him and out of his path of travel. That was a common enough occurrence, but there was little to none of the fearful respect he'd come to enjoy being directed towards him. It was like the common people hadn't ever heard of the Inquisitorius or knew what it was capable.

But these strange things were secondary to what he was feeling in the Force. The Force, as he'd come to know it, was nothing like it had been the previous day. The dark side was still eternally present, but it was much more muted, hidden below the surface. He could sense it because he was so attuned to it, but he really had to dig for it. But the rest of the Force was like a blanket of stifling and blinding light, trying to choke the darkness out of him, and it fed his fury all the more! He needed answers! How could this drastic of a change have happened without his sensing it?! He needed guidance and counsel of his master. His master was all-knowing and all-powerful, he'd know what had happened and why it had changed the nature of the Force.

Thanks to his imposing figure and how closely he'd landed to the hotel he'd stayed at, the Fifth Hunter wasted little time in returning to his TIE Advanced. Climbing in its cockpit, he started up its comm system and brought up the standard Imperial channels to get into contact with the Fleet. "This is the Fifth Hunter, hailing Imperial Star Destroyer, _Fury of the Empire_ , come on."

Dead silence and radio static answered his call.

"Imperial Star Destroyer, _Fury of the Empire_ , come on!" he barked out, letting his anger flare momentarily. But still silence answered him for several long moments. Reaching out in the Force, he sought out the familiar presences of his warship's captain and its crew. After several long minutes of futile searching, he realized the Star Destroyer was not in its assigned position over the planet, just like it hadn't been last night when he had been forced to land. Where was it? Had it been called away and still unable to return to its duty station by some kind emergency?

Turning back to the comm, he broadened the channels so that any Imperial forces nearby might be able to hear his call. "Imperial Command, this is the Fifth Hunter of the Imperial Inquisitorius. Respond immediately!"

Yet again, silence answered him. Frowning more in confusion than anger now, the Hunter considered his options. His communications weren't overly powerful, but they could still send out a signal that could be reached and heard from as far away as Coruscant from this distance. So, how could no Imperial forces have heard of call at all?

' _Perhaps my comm system got damaged from that missile?_ ' he wondered to himself. It was a feeble excuse and he knew it. He had heard and responded to the docking protocols when he'd landed with no problem, after all. Shaking his head, he decided that he had no choice in the matter. ' _My master will wish to know about those two Force-sensitives I've come across immediately. If my comm is broken, I'll just have to use another Imperial ship to send a message or go directly to my master in person._ '

With his course of action decided, the Fifth Hunter began his startup sequence. He had a long flight back to the Imperial Center, so it was best to get started immediately.

* * *

 **Hyperspace, Commenor Run  
** _ **Malastare's Pride**_ **, lounge**

"—and I got sent to my room," Luke said, finishing his retelling of one of his escapades with his friends back on Tatooine. Despite himself and the memory of all the trouble he'd gotten into because of that particular instance, he couldn't help the slight smile that crossed his face as the little princess across from him laughed uncontrollably at his recounting.

Leia was leaning heavily onto the tabletop they were sitting at, her bowl of soup forgotten momentarily as she laughed uproariously, beating the table with her small fist. She was laughing so hard that tearing of mirth were falling from her eyes. After several moments to regain control of herself, she finally managed to get out, "I wish… _heheheh_ , that I could've… _heheh_ , been there!"

"Uncle Owen would've sent you to your room too," Luke declared knowingly.

Leia looked up at him, half in humor and half in disbelief. "He wouldn't."

"He would've," Luke reasserted. His uncle was a very stern and harsh man, deeply rooted and set in his ways and beliefs. In some ways, it was a good thing as only such men could scrounge out a semi-comfortable living on the desert world. But on the same token, it also made for a much harsher role model than what was probably common in the more 'civilized' worlds of the Core. "And probably kept you there for another week for any backtalk."

Leia sniffed at that, raising her nose somewhat snobbishly at the possibility. As much as she didn't like it, she was still royalty and no common born farmer would be giving her any such punishments… _unless_ her parents' agreed with the reasons behind them. That thought caused her to wince in remembrance and to lose her snobbish fit.

Shaking her head to clear her random thoughts, Leia looked back at Luke to see him staring intently down at his empty bowl. At first she wasn't sure what he was staring at so intently, but she quickly guessed as she saw him hold his hand up over towards it. "What are you doing?"

"…Trying to use that…power," Luke said, glancing at her. "To see if I can… You can too, can't you?"

"I…I don't know," Leia admitted quietly, absentmindedly taking another bite of her soup. "I…don't even know if…if I can…"

"You're lying," Luke said, looking up sharply at her with a frown. "I could feel the power in you from the other side of the system. I know you also felt that…that cold presence also. And I know you were using it to help attack him before I came to help."

"I know that!" Leia said snappishly, glaring at the boy slightly. But her glare quickly faded as she turned and stared down unseeingly at her soup. "But I'm…I'm _scared_." Seeing Luke's confusion, she elaborated, "My father has always told me these grand stories of the Jedi Knights, warrior monks with magic powers, who fought for truth and justice in the old Republic before the Empire destroyed them."

"But the Jedi betrayed the Emperor, didn't they?" Luke asked, tilting his head slightly. "I've always heard that they were people who fought for the wrong ideas and caused a lot of unneeded trouble in the Outer Rim worlds. That they cared more about the Republic and the Core worlds than actually helping the people who needed it."

"But they were still heroes!" Leia snapped, again glaring at the boy. He'd no doubt been raised on tales of the Jedi being criminals and thugs, which was ironic considering he grew up on such a lawless and backwater planet as Tatooine. Forcing her impulsive anger aside, she took a breath and started again. "Anyway, my father always told me that he pitied those who were born with those magic Force powers. Because the Empire would take them and raise them to be cold-hearted monsters…like that person back at Denon."

Despite himself, Luke nodded in acknowledgement of her point. The Empire's influence, like the Republic before it, was much more concentrated and stronger in the Core and Colony world regions of the galaxy. Alas she would've grown up under the yoke and fear of the Empire and its corruptive and destructive influence. So, if the Jedi Knights had been guardians of peace and justice, she'd have grabbed ahold of that story with two hands and held tight.

"Okay," Luke acquiesced quietly. Then a cheeky half-grin crossed his face as he glanced up at her. "But they're not here now, are they? They don't know where we are or even who we are. So it's okay to try, isn't it?"

Leia blinked as that strange thought hit her like a bag of bricks. A near-identical half-grin crossed her face as she nodded victoriously. "Yeah! You're right! Let's try this again!" Finishing up the rest of her soup, she set her bowl aside and sat back, eyeing her bowl critically for a few moments.

Then she closed her eyes and tried to replicate what she'd done earlier. Calming herself and trying to reach out. It wasn't easy and nothing like last time. Last time, she didn't know what she was doing. Last time, she was just trying to calm herself down from her rising fear and panic. She hadn't intended to discover that there was a vast new world out, which she'd just barely gotten a glimpse of before events flew so far out of perspective.

This time, she knew what she'd done. She knew, or suspected, what it could mean to her and the galaxy at large. This time, she was trying to consciously make the connection. And because of that, her mind was going haywire with her excitement, her expectations, and her imagination. This made it infinitely more difficult to calm herself down enough to feel the presence of that power. But with a self-control that was rare for most other children her age, she forced herself to settle down, taking deep breaths.

And then, there it was. Just out of reach of her grasping, pleading fingers. Happiness sparked inside her as she felt it slowly starting to drift closer. Then, when she could finally grasp ahold it, she peeked her eyes open as she raised her hand. Her bowl started twitching, rolling along its base as her feeble attempt at picking it up quickly faltered as her concentration vanished in her sudden burst of uncontrollable excitement.

Smiling widely at her slight accomplishment, she looked over at Luke. He had noticed her attempt almost immediately as her bowl started moving and was glancing between her and it constantly with awe and more than a slight amount of envy. "How'd you do that?!"

Before Leia could respond, a sudden alarm started beeping through the intercom. The two children glanced up at the intercom for a moment before returning to look at one another. "That's the autopilot. We must be nearly to Alderaan."

Though still kind of pouting, Luke nodded gamely as he stood up and followed her to the cockpit. They slid into the pilot and copilot chairs easily, Luke taking the pilot's seat and waiting for the countdown to finish before cautiously easing the hyperdrive lever back into position. As he did so, the Baudo exited hyperspace with a large, beautiful blue-green planet with wispy white clouds looming in front of the cockpit with several long lines of millions of ships coming to and from the world.

For the last couple days, he and Leia had been taking a very rough crash course of piloting and navigation, added tremendously by the ship's autopilot. Their first couple attempts at making and exiting hyperspace jumps had caused quite a bit of havoc among the local hyperspace lanes. If not for Luke and Leia's superb innate skills with flying and mechanics, they most likely would've crashed and burned within the first two jumps. But they had most assuredly been earning themselves several spots on the HoloNet News as a result of their experimental flying, but they never stuck around long enough for the authorities to get ahold of them. But thanks to that, they had earned themselves a ridiculously steep learning curve and could not suitably pilot the ship in and out of hyperspace with minimal problem, so long as they let the autopilot plot the actual coordinates and jump.

Guided by Leia's instructions, the Baudo flew off away from the designated traffic lanes and onto the much more exclusive execute lanes that only high-level politicians, government and military, and the royal family were allowed to take. Curiously, Leia was looking around the traffic and the sensor with mounting confusion and a slight amount of concern.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, not taking his eyes from where he was flying.

"It's just…I'm not seeing or detecting any Star Destroyers or Imperial craft anywhere," Leia said, sounding crossed between happy and suspicious.

"What's wrong with that?" Luke asked again, not seeing any particular reason for this to raise Leia's concerns. ' _Then again_ ,' he reminded himself. ' _Tatooine doesn't have a major Imperial presence either and it's not like I've been traveling all that much_.'

"My father and most of Alderaan have always spoken out against the Emperor and the Empire," Leia said, slipping into a tone of voice that one might've heard from a student repeating a lecture they'd heard all their lives. "This means that we have always been a planet of 'potential dissent' and the Empire always keeps at least three Destroyers and a large number of Imperials on the planet and around the system. So, for them to not _be_ here suddenly is…weird."

"Now that you mention it," Luke said thoughtfully, pausing momentarily to glance over at the girl. "I haven't really seen any Imperial ships since we left Denon. Could something have happened to have called all their ships away somewhere?"

"It'd have to be extremely important," Leia said immediately. "Like galaxy-destroying important for all Imperial ships and people to be pulled anywhere in such large numbers."

"That is weird," Luke muttered.

Just then, the comm lit up as an incoming transmission was detected. Leia quickly leaned forward and hit the button. " _ **Baudo**_ _-class starship, you are intruding in a restricted fly-zone. Please identify yourself and prepare to return to normal traffic lanes_."

"This is Princess Leia Organa, authorization code PA84-37LS-44AS, requesting docking clearance at Royal Hangar," Leia answered with practiced ease. "Docking code: BO88-284D-75BO."

There was a long pause, much longer than Leia was accustomed to. Combined with the strange absence of the Imperial Navy over her homeworld, this was really grating on her nerves and making very nervous for reasons she couldn't quite understand. ' _Something is just…_ _ **off**_ ,' she thought, sharing a glance with Luke who was also starting to grow concerned.

Finally, after almost five minutes of waiting, the comm beeped again as a pair of N-1 starfighters suddenly drew up alongside the Baudo's flanks. "Baudo, this is Hangar Control, clearance granted. You may dock at Landing Pad H47."

"Thank you," Leia responded, practically sagging in relief.

With the pair of N-1s as escort and Leia's guidance, they made quick time in reaching the surface. Despite himself and his need to focus on flying, Luke couldn't stop himself from gazing around him at the absolutely idyllic scenery of the world. There was simply no words in his vocabulary to properly express the absolute awe he felt at the truly beautiful planet he was flying through now. It truly made his own world of Tatooine seem like a backwater sandpit of savages and thugs.

But he was forced to return his mind to flying as they approached the specified landing pad. As they approached the pad, he quickly looked about the controls and computer for the landing gear, foolishly only just realizing that he had no idea where they were. After several stressful moments, he found the lever and flipped it, easing up on the throttle and bringing the ship in almost a hover over the pad. Lowering the ship, the impact of landing was a bit rough, roughly shaking and jostling the entire ship. It momentarily scared both children, as this was their first attempt at ever landing a ship. The hard landing was almost enough to dislodge the Z-95 still held in docking configuration underneath the ship.

"Nice landing," Leia said, somewhat mockingly though there was little actual bite in her tone.

"Thanks," Luke said, too busy trying to calm himself to actually feel any offense. "I'll do better next time."

Leia nodded before quickly unbuckling herself from the copilot's chair. Luke was only a moment behind as she rushed for the exit ramp. The two had barely made it down the ramp and out of the ship when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by uniformed guards, each holding their blasters upon them with grim expressions on their faces. As the two children soon found themselves wrestling with the guards who were trying to secure their small wrists in binders, half the group split off and rushed up the boarding ramp to scour the ship.

"What's going on here?!" Leia cried out, startled and more than a little angry. "Unhand me! I'm the Princess!"

"Do you take us for fools?" one of the guards demanded, his voice hard and harsh. "There is no Princess of Alderaan. You are in very deep trouble, young lady."

"What are you talking about?!" Leia demanded in an equally hard and harsh voice, looking at each of the guards in hopes of finding someone she recognized. But she couldn't spot any who bore more than even a passing familiarity she had with anyone. Looking over at Luke, who was struggling far less than Leia was but was also equally confused and concerned, she saw something approaching suspicion in his eyes when he met her gaze. She didn't know how, but she just _knew_ he was starting to doubt her claims of being a princess. And that doubt from her newest friend really _hurt_. "I am the Princess! Authorization code PA84-37LS-44AS! Look it up, laser brains!"

"We have, _several_ times just to be sure," the man said, gesturing to the children and the four men who stood beside them to walk back towards the group of speeders that had parked nearby. "That code doesn't _exist_. Now, _stop_ talking and _start_ walking! You're in _enough_ trouble as it is!"

As the children were pushed along, Leia struggling and trying to exert her royal authority the whole way, Luke glanced back as some of the men who'd boarded the ship exited the ramp. It was faint, especially over Leia's loud voice, but he was able to hear the man say, "There's no one else onboard, sir. Those two kids seem to have been the only passengers." Though they continued their conversation, Luke could no longer hear what they were saying.

Returning his gaze to Leia as they were pushed into one of the speeders, he managed to crack a half-grin as he said, "At least we're still together, Leia."

The dark haired girl shot Luke a strange look for a moment, as though she couldn't believe he could be so composed and calm in such a situation. But the look soon passed as she nodded faintly, turning her attention to start glaring at the guards again.

* * *

 **Aldera Royal Palace, Alderaan**

Queen Breha Organa was a very beautiful young woman and yet lately she felt as though she were twice her age. She was seated in a hoverchair, a medical necessity since she was still recovering from her most recent miscarriage and was largely unable to walk or do any physical activity until her body recovered. She was currently dressed in a loose-fitting but very comfortable stately blue dress. Her hair was done up in an elaborate bun that was strongly reminiscent of the styles from her friend Padme Amidala's homeworld of Naboo.

On the desk in front of her was a bunch of updates and reform requests for the various educational intergalactic universities and public schools that she was Minister of. However, she was largely staring at the paperwork without seeing it, her mind caught up in other business that had just come to her attention. Someone had trespassed in a restricted space lane, requesting landing clearance in the Royal Hangar, using an identification code that didn't exist, and yet the docking code that was not only classified but restricted to the royalty only. Simply put, it was a very strange occurrence. She had yet to hear back from the security guards she'd sent to apprehend the ship's pilot, crew, and passengers, but she wasn't too concerned with that. They had orders to bring them before her so that she might question them herself.

And so, her mind was simply unable to concentrate on other matters that might've needed her attention.

A loud commotion outside her office's door caught her attention a few short moments before they were opened. In marched the security guards with a pair of children in binders on their wrists. The blonde boy seemed calm enough, if looking a bit worried at the brunette girl next to him, who was loudly trying to order the guards to remove the binders from her.

"Enough!" Breha barked out in her best commanding tone, immediately silencing the girl's loud voice and drawing her attention.

"Mother!" the girl cried out happily, but then quickly paused in confusion and stared hard at her as if unsure of what she was seeing. The blonde boy was glancing between the girl and Breha, trying to understand something that Breha wasn't sure of. "You look…different."

"I'm sorry, child," Breha said, studying the girl closely. There was something familiar in her facial feature, but she just couldn't put her finger on why. "But do I know you? Who are you two?"

"Mother!" the girl cried out, quite obviously distressed and hurt.

"I'm Luke Skywalker of Tatooine," the blonde boy said quietly, focusing on Breha finally. A slight smile pulled at his face as he said, "You're very pretty, madam."

"Thank you, child," Breha said, returning his slight smile for a moment. Refocusing on the girl, she repeated, "And who are you, child?"

"Mother, it's me! Leia!" the girl cried out, begging quite clearly in her tone and expression for Breha to suddenly remember her.

Staring long and hard at the girl for a moment, Breha sighed before looking up pointedly at the guard captain. Seeing she was acknowledging him, the man said, "These two were the only ones aboard the vessel that transmitted the codes, near as we can tell. My men are currently doing an in-depth scan of the vessel for any secret compartments or hidden personnel. We should hear back from them in an hour or two, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, captain," Breha acknowledged, waving her hand dismissively. "Leave us. Please wait outside." Though looking a little uncomfortable, the guards all bowed and retreated from the room without further comment.

"Mother—"

"Please don't call me that, child," Breha said sternly, somewhat surprised by the girl's fast obedience and silence, even if her hurt expression magnified greatly at the command. "I do not know you. I have never seen you before either." The sight of tears starting to fill Leia's eyes was almost enough to melt Breha's heart. She loved children, really. So, being so stern to one, no matter how confused she must've been, was really starting to eat away at her. Steeling herself, she continued, "But perhaps you can tell me where you learned the docking codes to the Royal Hangar. Those are restricted to top secret. No one but an Alderaanian royal should know them."

"But I am a royal!" Leia cried out. "I am the Princess and Heir of the House of Organa! Please, you have to believe me! Mother!"

Breha watched the girl for a moment before looking over at Luke. "And what is your story, boy? How did you two come Alderaan and why are you here?"

"I was taken from my home on Tatooine by some Zyzergan, no, Sygerran, no, Zygeran," the boy began before he fell fumbling into trying to remember the name of those slavers.

Thankfully for him, Breha had a pretty good idea of what he meant. "Zygerrian?"

"Yeah! Those guys!" Luke said, nodding to her. "They wanted to sell me as a slave. But I managed to escape, helping the others to get out. Then I went and helped one of them do something to the Zygerrian's ship, but he got hurt and died when we were trying to reach the others." Breha could practically see the remorse on the boy's face as he remembered that part, but he gamely continued on after a moment to recollect himself. "I flew that starfighter out of the ship, but they had gotten into a fight with the Imps and they attacked. I was able to fight them off before I…I _noticed_ that Leia's ship was also in trouble and went to help. Then there was a really big flash and next thing I know me and Leia were falling towards the star. We managed to get away and I landed on Leia's ship and she said she wanted to go home, here."

Despite herself, Breha felt her eyebrows steadily rising in surprise as the boy continued his tale. She was very good at reading people's mannerisms and expressions, a necessity for any politician, so she knew that the boy was telling the truth. Though there was some details that she wasn't too sure of. "I'm sorry, what 'Imps' are you talking about?"

"Imps? The Imperials. You know, the Imperial Galactic Empire?" Luke said, cocking his head slightly as he gazed at her, his tone bland as though he was telling someone that the sky outside was blue and the grass green.

"I think you might be mistaken," Breha said slowly, forcing herself to remember that he was from Tatooine and probably wasn't the most up-to-date on current events and was probably also raised to believe different things. Like seeing the Republic as an Empire perhaps? "There is no 'Galactic Empire'. There is a Galactic Republic, though."

"Yes there is," both children said simultaneously, before glancing at one another and giggling quietly.

Frowning, Breha thought over what the boy had said. Could it be possible that the 'Imps' who'd attacked the Zygerrian slavers was some type of obscure pirate group or even a business of some kind? It was hard to say since a lot of information got lost, jumbled, or even flat-out sabotaged that far out from the Core worlds and Colonies. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Leia. "And what's your story, Leia? How did you come to meet Luke and get into a space battle?"

"I…I s-s-snuck out of my room to go the Gingerbell Blossum Festival," Leia started with a stutter, blushing brightly as Luke and Breha both looked at her with stern expressions. "I'm sorry, Mother! But I really didn't want to be stuck in my room and miss another party!"

Breha forcefully stopped herself from telling the girl to stop calling 'Mother'. And she had to raise her eyebrow at the mention of the festival, it had ended several days ago and was almost exclusively an Alderaanian tradition. Not just any random star-traveler should know about it. If nothing else, this little fact helped convince Breha that Leia was at least partially telling the truth of being born on Alderaan. Instead, she beckoned her to continue her tale.

"But some big brutes kidnapped me when I got out onto the street!" there was a definite note of anger in her voice as she remembered that. "They said that Senator Ask Aak of Malastare wanted to 'meet' with me. I bet he wanted to blackmail Father into doing something for him!" Breha found herself nodding slightly at that. That sounded very much like something the corrupt senator of Malastare would've done, in her own humble opinion of the senator's character.

"When we reached the Denon system, we were suddenly attacked by someone," Leia continued. "I…got out and started helping defend the ship from a weird TIE fighter. But then that flash of light happened and…you know what happened."

"That's quite an adventure you two have had," Breha commented, thinking carefully. She wasn't sure if she believed everything they told her and it was pretty clear that they were hiding some facts, it was obvious in their stutters and pauses.

"Yeah, it was!" Luke chirped out, looking absolutely delighted despite the torment he'd had to endure. "I hope we can have _lots_ more like it!"

"Just like it?" Leia asked, glancing at him critically.

Luke flinched after remembering some of the especially bad times he'd been through. "Well, maybe not _exactly_ like that it. But that space fight was a _lot_ of fun!" Leia just rolled her eyes at Luke's boyish enthusiasm, but she had a small smile on her own face.

Glancing between the two of them, Breha came to a decision. "I've got an idea. How about we run a few tests to determine just who you two really are?"

Luke just shrugged uncaringly. He knew who he was, who his family was. He didn't need them to tell him that. But Leia's eyes lit up excitedly. "You mean…You mean you'll finally tell me who my Mommy really is?!"

Breha looked sharply over at Leia. She kept calling her 'mother' and yet she didn't know who her 'mommy' was? Maybe she'd been adopted when she was too young to know her parents? That would explain that statement she'd made. But if so, why hadn't her adoptive family ever told her this information before? Could her family have been bad people and they were trying to shield her from that stigma?

"We'll see," Breha said, being purposely vague now as that suspicion crossed her mind. Backing her hoverchair away from her desk, she beckoned the children to follow her to the infirmary.

* * *

 **06:1:19 GrS  
Supreme Chancellor's Office, Coruscant**

As Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and the current secret reigning Master of the Sith Order, Sheev Palpatine was the single most powerful being in the entire galaxy. His political power was steadily climbing and growing with each crisis his agents and 'apprentice' engineered. And his raw power in the Force were equaled by none, save only young Anakin Skywalker. Though not even young Skywalker possessed anything close to his levels of skill and mastery.

He was still in the process of finalizing some of his plans. The next election for the Chancellorship was only a short year away and he was having already putting a lot of new plans into motion, as well as ensuring that preexisting ones were all proceeding as desired. If he maneuvered it right, as he knew he would, then the lack of any significant progress and any viable rivals would allow him to win that election with ease. After that, he'd really have to start focusing on his long-term goals to ensure that his seat of power would then be a permanent one.

Dressed in his elaborate and billowing Chancellor robes, he was pacing smoothly through his office, lost in thought. Though his expression was serene, if a little worn down, his mind was racing as he contemplated something that had been troubling him for days. He'd sensed a strange disturbance in the Force. Thankfully for him, he'd been alone in his apartment at the time, so he was able to meditate on what he sensed, trying to hone in on it.

The disturbance didn't last for very long, just a few brief minutes, so he hadn't been able to acquire anything more than a passing impression of what had been happening. But that impression he gained had definitely left an impact on him. For the briefest of moments, he'd sensed a pair of presences who were absolutely powerful, nearly if not on par with that young Skywalker in terms of raw power and potential. In an instant he'd made a decision to seek them out. They would be acolytes and potential replacements if his schemes with Skywalker did not bear any fruit. But that wasn't all that he'd sensed. He could feel the presence of a new Dark-sider, albeit not a strong one.

Ever since that event, he'd been meditating periodically, trying to locate wherever those two powerful presences had gone. But he could never sense anything from them, except for the brief tickle of a presence before it'd faded back into obscurity. It was a frustrating ordeal for the Sith Lord, compounded by his inability to personally go out in search of them, which was worsened even more so by the fact that he was positive that those self-righteous Jedi had also detected those two presences as well. In fact, if they somehow didn't, Sidious would be _extremely_ surprised.

Halting suddenly, Sidious subtly used the Force to lower his concealed lightsaber from its holster in his robes, ready for use if needed. "I'm impressed," he said quietly, his tone threatening but still conversational. "I had been uncertain if you'd have the courage to come before me. Now, what do you want? A quick death or something more painful?"

"I do not seek to challenge you, Master," a somewhat deep bass voice. "I have merely returned to once again offer my services to you."

"Indeed?" Sidious said, finally turning to face his uninvited visitor.

Kneeling before him, head bowed low, was a white-skinned Twi'lek dressed in a black and gray armor. There were several things that attracted Sidious's attention immediately by the Twi'lek's attire. The first thing was the strange device he had mounted on his back. It looked like a lightsaber, but it had a metallic disk with grooves engraved in it. The second thing was the emblem on the Twi'lek's shoulder, it strongly resembled the Republic's but with some noticeable differences.

"And just who are you, my friend?" Sidious asked, his tone no less threatening.

"I have no name, master," the Twi'lek stated calmly. But Sidious could still sense him drawing upon the dark side to strengthen his resolve and courage. "I am merely my number and my occupational designation. I am the Fifth Hunter of the Inquisitorius of the Imperial Empire."

"Indeed," Sidious said, his mind racing as wild possibilities and speculations ignited. "And how have you come to be before me?"

"I was upon my Star Destroyer," the Fifth Hunter began. "I was searching for the Children of the Force, those who could potentially become threats to you and your Empire if allowed to roam free or found by any surviving Jedi, when I sensed the presence of two _incredibly_ powerful Children within the hyperspace lanes. The ships they were aboard had been engaged in combat and resisted my orders to surrender. Over the course of the battle, I attacked one of the vessels but was also attacked by one of the Children who had gotten aboard a starfighter. However, the other vessel must've been damaged in some way. Its hyperdrive exploded and all three of us were caught up in its conflagration."

Despite himself, Sidious's eyebrows raised. An exploding hyperdrive was highly dangerous with extremely few survivors ever walking away from them. "And how did you survive such an event?"

"The dark side, I believe, master," the Hunter said, hesitantly. "All three of us had been drawing quite _heavily_ upon the Force at the time. I believe…I believe the Force may have _protected_ us from the explosion. But to how I ended up _here_ , I know not, master. My training in the dark side is…limited."

Humming thoughtfully, Sidious considered what he'd learned for a moment. "And what has become of those two Children you were after?"

"The one in the starfighter recovered faster than I," the Hunter admitted shamefully. "He attacked my ship with a missile and sent me into a tumble. By the time I'd recovered my ship, I was already very far away and very disoriented from the…event that occurred. I'd attempted to return to my vessel and send my underlings after them. But my ship was gone and I was forced to land on Denon to suitably recover. By then, the Children had already long since jumped to hyperspace. I am sorry, master. I have failed you."

"Perhaps," Sidious acknowledged thoughtfully. "But you have scrounged a victory out of this defeat. You have come to me. You know things about what's to come, don't you? You are familiar with these Children. You can find them again, if needed."

"Yes, master," the Fifth Hunter said, agreeing with the various points his master stated. "I am unsure how helpful my knowledge will be of things to come, master. History was never a subject I put very much effort into."

Frowning in anger, Sidious quickly let his displeasure pass. He was back to square one in that regard, but it wasn't such a bad thing. He already had plenty of plans ready and more than enough backups to reinforce them.

"Rise, my friend," Sidious said, raising his hand. As the white Twi'lek did so, he was careful to keep his head low and his eyes downcast, his body utterly submissive despite its powerful physique. "You are fortunate. I have a task for you to complete. Bring me these two Children that have come with you. Failing that, you will continue to search the galaxy, collect other Children of the Force, and bring them to my facility on Mustafar. These Children will become the first of your Inquisitorius organization. If any Jedi discover you, kill them immediately!"

"Even Skywalker, master?" the Hunter asked, uncertain. "He plays a large role in things to come and the Empire as a whole."

Pausing momentarily, a sinister sneer crossed Sidious's face. The Hunter had just given him some vital information. His reluctance to kill Skywalker made it very clear that Sidious's machinations to turn him to the dark side and become his apprentice were successful. Excellent! "No, let him live. But provoke and entice him. Make him angry and volatile. It'll hasten my plans for him. Now, go!"

"Yes, master," the Twi'lek acknowledged, bowing low. He was gone as silently and quickly as he'd shown up, leaving a triumphantly sneering Sith Lord in his wake.

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Whew! That chapter just wouldn't stop once I got started on it! I love it when that happens! That's right, people! This is a Time-Travel fic! What I was hoping to do was show a more logical deduction and realization of the characters as they learn what's happened to them. Let's be honest people, it is NOT most people's first inclination to believe that they might've somehow traveled back in time. They'd struggle to understand and adjust. That's what I was aiming for with the twins on Alderaan. So, that being said, I hope I caught the various characters' confusion and uncertainty right.

So, I wonder how people are going to be upset when they finish this chapter...?


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 04_

 **06:1:19 GrS  
Infirmary, Aldera Royal Palace**

Leia was practically bouncing with anxious excitement. She and Luke had both been subject to a pretty basic medical examination, which was little more than testing their immune systems for diseases and viruses, eye and dental, measuring their weight and height, and a blood test to map out their heritage and locate family. It was the last test that had Leia constantly shifting, moving, and glancing towards the doctor's door with barely restrained excitement.

She was so excited to know who her mommy was that she was only just being able to stop herself was making useless conversation with Luke about that very subject. Who was her mommy? Was she someone very important? What had happened to her? She could barely remember her mommy. It was only barely a snapshot, so faint in her memory, little more than a flash of lightning, there and then gone just as quickly. But that tiny glimpse had always stuck with her and she did her best to never allow it to fade. Her mommy's beautiful face, red and sweating from some kind of painful exertion, trails lining her cheeks as tears fell from her eyes. With that glimpose, there was also a weak sense of just who she was as a person. So beautiful, so kind, and yet so sad, so heartbroken.

"Leia?" Luke's voice broke her from her reverie. "Do you…Do you remember your mommy? Your…real mommy?"

Looking up at her friend, Leia could see some kind of wishful longing in his face. She knew that he meant the woman who birthed her, not the woman who'd raised her. And she knew that there was some kind of…pain in him as he waited for her response. "Just a little bit. She died when I was a baby. She was very, very pretty, very nice, but sad… Why do you wanna know?"

"I…I don't remember my mommy," Luke admitted, his hidden pain coming to the surface for a moment. "I never knew her. I have no holos of her. I…I know nothing about her or who she was." As he spoke, his eyes grew wet, though he tried his damnedest to not let the tears fall. "I…I don't even really who my daddy was or what he did or why either of them died."

Seeing his pain, Leia got up from her seat and crossed the short distance between them, drawing him into a tight but gentle hug. She just held him for a long moment as his grief momentarily got the better of him. "I think, whoever they were, your parents would've been proud of you. And you'd would have been proud of them."

"How do…How do you know?" Luke asked, glancing up at Leia's face.

"Because I already know them," Leia said, smiling down at his confused expression. "Because I know you. You are kind and gentle and strong. You helped me when you didn't have to. You helped those other slaves escape when you didn't have to. And you have the power to be a great Jedi if you wanted to be. Yes, I think your parents would've been very proud of you."

Luke smiled slightly as Leia released him, allowing him to reach up and wipe his face clean. "Thank you, Princess Leia."

"—off the charts, Your Majesty!" a loud voice was saying as the doctor's door suddenly opened. Both children whirled around to face the noise, seeing Breha's hoverchair floating through the opening languidly. "We must call the Order immediately! It is standard galactic policy and—"

"Thank you for the test results, doctor," Breha interrupted sharply, not speaking over the doctor but with a definite bite in her tone that Leia was all-too-familiar with. "We will speak of this _later_ , but as of right now, there is no _immediate_ need to do so."

"…Of course, Your Majesty," the doctor said, his tone and expression both made it abundantly clear to all, even Luke, that he was far from satisfied and would be pursuing the conversation again later. Glancing momentarily over at the two mystery children, he nodded slightly to them with a slight narrowing of his eyes before shutting his office door rather abruptly.

Sighing heavily, Breha swung her hoverchair around to face the two children. "I apologize for that. Doctor Sitch was a bit…excited about what he'd found."

"What's that?" Luke asked, cocking his head slightly.

Looking between the two children with a strange expression on her face for a moment, as though she was trying to see something between them but was ultimately unable to. Instead, she beckoned them to accompany her back out of the infirmary. As the children followed her down the hall, she said, "The test results are back and they've shown that you two are in exceptional health. Although, we did detect some trace amounts of hyper-energy upon your bodies."

"Hyper-energy?" Luke asked, voicing Leia's question.

"The energy field that allows starships to travel through hyperspace," Breha explained, smiling faintly at him. "It is a very dangerous energy field when people, like me and you two, are exposed to it without protection. I believe that by you two having such trace amounts of this energy on you probably means you were caught within the blast range of an exploding hyperdrive."

"What?!" Leia gasped, horrified. "Are we gonna die?!"

"No," Breha quickly assured them. "I said you only have _trace_ amounts. It will soon fade away in a few more days and you won't even notice it."

Entering a turbolift, Breha hit the topmost button, lifting the three of them upwards. "But that isn't the only thing that the tests have shown us."

"My mommy?" Leia asked, excitement sparkling brightly in her eyes.

"Eh…Yes and more," Breha said, somewhat uncertainly. An uncertainty that immediately caught both children's attentions. Thankfully for Breha's sake of mind, the turbolift reached its final stop at the moment, allowing her to stall for a few moments as they exited it. They entered in Breha's personal study, a room filled with old-fashioned books and holovids, beautiful paintings upon the walls, and a couple of chairs and sofas throughout the room and balcony that overlooked the city and nearby mountain landscape.

"Mother," Leia said in a slow tone that warned that she wasn't going to let her dodge the subject anymore. "Who's my mommy?"

Turning back to the children, she sighed as she gestured for them to take a seat. Though they did, neither of their eyes left her. "The test results were…inconclusive."

"What's that mean?" Luke asked, quite confused.

"It means that though we _were_ able to identify multiple genetic markers for who likely was your mother, we _weren't_ able to identify who your _father_ was," Breha said. "This doesn't happen very often, but it does nonetheless. I'm guessing that your father was probably someone who was born and raised somewhere out in the Rim-worlds. If so, that means that he was probably never treated by a sanctioned Republic medical facility or hospital. So, we don't have anything in our medical base to tell us who he is."

"But what about my mommy!" Leia demanded, starting to get frustrated with how Breha seemed to be avoiding answering that all-important question to her.

"We did find a match for who your mommy was, but it's _still_ inconclusive or perhaps even been sabotaged," Breha said, frowning at Leia's whiny tone, causing the girl to flinch back and glance downward at the silent reprimand. After a moment, she continued, "The closest match we could get is that of Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala of Naboo."

"Padme…Na-berry…Ami-dala?" Leia repeated slowly, trying to sound out the strange name. But that didn't diminish the brilliant shine in her eyes as she finally, _**finally**_ had a name.

"Queen?" Luke said, rather surprised. "You mean that even if Leia isn't _Alderaan's_ Princess, she still is a _real_ princess?!"

"Perhaps," Breha repeated. "But I'm not finished, children." Once she got their attentions again, she continued, "I said that Padme is the _closest_ match, I didn't say that it was the _correct_ match."

"What?" both asked, simultaneously cocking their heads in confusion. It was something that caused Breha to blink for a moment before a tiny smile crossed her face for a second.

"Padme is a good friend of mine," Breha said. "I've known her for several years. Even if she's ever had a secret love affair, she is still far too young to have had any children your ages." This statement caused Leia to pout very heavily. "However, there are still so many genetic markers between you that it's more likely that you two are actually close relatives of her."

"You mean she'd be my cousin or aunt?!" Leia asked, excited once again.

"Us two?" Luke said suddenly, drawing the two girls' attentions. "What do you mean 'us two'?"

"That is another thing we've found," Breha said, smiling a bit more crookedly. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy this little moment. "The blood tests have shown, without any doubt, that you two are siblings, brother and sister."

"WHAT?!" both children shouted, recoiling in surprise away from Breha before immediately turning and staring at one another appraisingly. Then they shot back to stare at Breha again with obvious disbelief.

"It's _true_ , children," Breha said calmly. "Aside from a few minor differences, your blood tests showed almost _identical_ genetic markers in all the areas that _mattered_. No matter how or what happened, you two are family."

"I have a brother?" "I have a sister?" both of them asked slowly, unable to really believe it, barely daring to hope that their deepest secret wish was true. For whatever reason, they just couldn't look at each other, for fear of seeing that the other was less welcoming of the idea than they were.

"Yes," Breha affirmed calmly, watching the two. After a moment of silence, the two of them finally worked up enough courage to glance over at the other, uncertainty clear in both their expressions. Then, weakly, Luke gave Leia a tentative and inviting smile, to which she slowly answered with her own.

Nodding with her own smile, Breha cleared her throat, drawing the siblings' attentions back to her. "The blood test has also shown one final, very unique result that the two of you share. And, to be honest, I don't know what to do with it either." Seeing their curious expressions, she continued, "Along with the standard checkups, we also ran a test that is mandatory on all Republic worlds. We counted the midi-chlorians in your blood, to see if either of you had the potential to become Jedi. And the results were…unexpected."

Digging into her pocket, she withdrew a datapad, swiping its screen and calling up four specific charts before showing the two children. "The low count of 5,000 on the bottom left is the minimum required to be accepted into the Jedi Order. The higher count of 15,000 on the bottom right is what's considered very strong. In fact, I do believe that Grandmaster Yoda is one of the very few who has an even higher count than this, about 18,000." Seeing that the two children were following what she was saying so far, she indicated the upper two charts, which were noticeably higher than the 15,000 count. "And these two are the both of you, 22,000 each. You two possibly possess the strongest connection to the Force in all of recorded history!"

The two children just stared at the charts, not truly understanding the enormity of what it was they were seeing and being told. Their experiences with the Force were extremely few, with practically nothing and no one else to compare to. They had sensed the Force. They had felt the weaker but still very dangerous power of that darksider. And they had taken their first baby steps into utilizing the Force. But none of that could truly prepare them for the simple truth that their raw potential was greater than almost any other in the galaxy. So, with such a weak understanding of it, the thought that they were so powerful didn't really affect them with any appreciable impact.

"We could become Jedi?" Leia asked, torn between excited and scared. "But…But weren't all of the Jedi killed by the Empire years ago?"

"What?" Breha asked, confused. There was mention of that 'empire' again. Breha made a mental note to look up any references to any empires in the HoloNet later on. With how many times these two children had been bringing it up, this empire must've had a massive impact on whatever planet or star system it was located in. Putting that thought aside for now, she said, "No, the Jedi aren't dead. The Order is still very alive and doing its duty to the Republic."

The siblings looked up Breha in confusion. Though Luke was simply confused, wondering if Breha thought of the Empire as the old Republic it had been, Leia's mind was starting work overtime. A tantalizing idea, however improbable and illogical it might've been, even to a 7-year-old, was starting to take root in her mind. Was it…possible?

"So, would you two like me to contact the Jedi Order and see if they'll send a representative to take you to the Temple on Coruscant?" Breha asked, her voice neutral and her face impassive. The Jedi Order had been taking quite a few unkind hits and blemishes to its image and reputation lately. Most of those were baseless rumors and illogical expectations, but they were still damaging all the same. But that had nothing to do with her opinion. She didn't want to send either of these two off to join the Order, no matter just how incredible and honorable it might've been to be in the Order. She wanted to get to know these two a little bit longer.

"Yes!/No!" both children chirped. They turned to stare at one another in surprise for a moment, then their eyes narrowed.

Breha could already guess what was about to happen and hastily cut in before the newly-discovered siblings began their first of likely many disagreements and arguments. "Perhaps a question best answered at another time. Since you two have nowhere to go and only a pair of ships to your name, you can stay here for the time being. Let's go and get you set up in one of the guestrooms. You can discuss what to do in the future there."

Turning back to Breha, they quietly chorused, "Yes, madam."

* * *

 **06:1:26 GrS  
Spaceport, Caamas**

He was in a cantina near the spaceport, fishing for information and observing the activities of the scum of the galaxy. Although Caamas was technically a Core world, the filth and scum always migrated to the nearest cantina to drown their sorrows in alcohol or search for unsuspecting prey, especially on a swamp world as overgrown as this one.

The Hunter had never seen or been to Caamas before it's devastation, but he could now easily understand why his master had ordered it be so thoroughly cleansed of life. The Force, particularly the light side, was absolutely vibrant on this world due to its incalculable numbers of life and living organisms. There were traces of the dark side, but they were so small and remote that they offered no reassurance to the hulking predator who now prowled its surface.

He was taking a short rest break from his search of those two Children he was seeking, as well as his task of securing the future of the Inquisitorius. His TIE Advanced was at the spaceport, being refueled and given some basic maintenance by the port's repair droids. So, he decided to stalk one of the primary unofficial hotspots for criminal activity and black market information. So far, his search wasn't making any progress. Oh, he heard plenty about blackmailing information, kidnappings, murders, and thefts. It was a veritable treasure trove of information that the proper authorities would've begged to have gotten their hands on, but nothing of what he was searching for. It was frustrating, but he had to remind himself that he was in a different time period and the criminals had different concerns and secrets to hide from everyone else.

Sighing, the Fifth Hunter finished his cup of water as he gave the cantina he was in one last cursory glance, idly readjusting his new jacket into a more comfortable position. Though he was disconcerted to do so, the Fifth Hunter had quickly realized that he needed to change his Inquisitorius uniform to something a bit more 'modern' so that he wouldn't be attracting any unnecessary attention to himself. Of his original armor, he kept his chestplate, shoulder pauldrons, and wrist guards, but he'd painted over all the Imperial insignias and wore them over a rugged but semi-comfortable leather jacket. His lightsaber he kept mounted on his back, but he also now carried a standard blaster pistol and dart launcher, loathe as he was to actually _use_ them. But he'd accomplished his goal of seeming to be a run-of-the-mill bounty hunter or smuggler.

Tossing a few credits to pay for his drink, the white Twi'lek stalked out of the cantina back towards his starship. Perhaps he'd have more luck meditating in the dark side to locate either his primary targets or some other random Children.

He didn't notice that he was being followed until he had already reached the spaceport and was walking down one of its long walkways towards his ship. He didn't chance a look backwards, as that would betray him to his follower, but he had a pretty good idea of just who (or more accurately, _what_ ) was trailing after him. The person was a great deal stronger in the Force than any other being within the entirety of the city the spaceport was stationed in, easily stronger than even himself in point of fact. And the fact that this presence was practically glowing with life and light told him that he'd somehow gotten the attention of a Jedi; likely a Jedi Knight because while it was strong, it wasn't _that_ strong.

Turning and walking into an empty hangar bay, the Hunter stalked forward into the center of the bay and waited patiently, his back to the entrance as his pursuer rounded the corner and approached him silently. Closing his eyes, the Hunter delved into the dark side, pulling at it and drawing in its power and strength, boosting his confidence as he used it to override his own considerable fear. And he was afraid. Afraid of being killed by some random Jedi before he had a chance to fulfill his master's commands. He knew that he was only an intermediately-trained Force-user who's skill and expertise in the dark side was easily overshadowed by many Jedi Knights of the present era. His own true advantages lie in his lightsaber combat skills (which he invested heavily into) and his weapon's singularly unique functions, something that no present Jedi had been trained to deal with.

"I had wondered when one of you would come before me," he growled out, his fear turning to anger with practiced ease.

"I sense the dark side in you," the Jedi behind him stated bluntly. "But you do not have the _depths_ of darkness that I've heard the Sith possess. Who are you? And _what_ are you?"

"As if I'd actually tell you," the Hunter said, reaching back and grabbing his lightsaber from its holster. "All you'll need to know is that your choice to stalk this predator while it's on the hunt was your _last_ mistake, _Jedi_." His red blade sprung to life as he spat out that last word hatefully.

"There is no need for violence," the Jedi said, trying to pacify the situation. "I am not here to fight. I just want to talk."

"Good," the Hunter purred out as he turned to face the Caamasi Jedi. "That'll make killing you even easier." With that said, he suddenly leapt forward with all the speed he could muster, which was actually quite considerable when he was in the mindset to actually use it.

The Caamasi Jedi had been wholly unprepared for the Hunter's sudden aggression, just barely managing to unclip his own lightsaber and bring up a simple parry against the stabbing thrust. The Hunter didn't relent, pressing his advantage with all his might. He stabbed fast and swung with all his strength, keeping the Caamasi Jedi fumbling backwards. As he was doing this, he discreetly shifted his lightsaber from single blade into its ring-mode in preparation.

Then, as he knew the Jedi would, he found his thrusts and swings starting to be blocked and deflected with increasing ease as the Jedi adjusted to his aggression. Locking blades with the Jedi, he snarled hatefully into the Jedi's stony face, showing a full mouthful of his sharp teeth in an attempt at attacking his enemy's confidence. Then his snarl changed into a feral sneer as he activated his lightsaber's second blade and spinning mechanism. The sudden and completely unexpected strange new attack immediately caught the Jedi by surprise, knocking him stumbling backwards and around as his own green lightsaber was slapped away and to the side by the rapidly spinning red blades.

Capitalizing on this, the Hunter thrust his free hand forward as he swept his spinning lightsaber away, hitting the Jedi with as strong a Force Push as he could manage. Though the Jedi's shields took most of the Force attack, he was still sent sliding two meters away by the strength of the attack. Spinning the cycling weapon around his back, he expertly switched it out of the cycling mode and back into a single blade as he lunged forward with a decisive thrust. Because the Jedi was still recovering from his surprise as the Hunter's unusual weapon, he was utterly unprepared to stop the stabbing red blade from finding its target in his heart. The Jedi tensed up in pain as a cry of agony echoed through the empty hangar. The Fifth Hunter sneered triumphantly as he withdrew his weapon and watched as his kill swiftly collapsed to the ground, dead.

"That was a rather enjoyable fight," he commented as he switched off his weapon. Seeing the Jedi's discarded weapon on the floor, he reached out for as it jumped into his hand. Examining it, his sneer widened as he said, "I wonder if my master will reward me if I deliver a few trophies to him?"

Clipping the weapon to his belt, he turned and left the Jedi's corpse to be found by the spaceport's authorities or random new arrivals at a later time. Even if he hadn't intended it, he now needed to meditate after this battle, to calm his dark desires and hide his presence from any nearby or far-reaching Jedi Master.

* * *

 **Inner Courtyard, Aldera Royal Palace**

Raising his staff, Luke caught the high attack that was aimed for his head but the strength of the blow sent a shock down his arms. Without his instinctive use of strengthening himself through the Force, he almost assuredly would've been lost his grip on the staff as he was pushed back. So focused was he on not losing his grip on his weapon, that he didn't react in time when his opponent suddenly withdrew, only to swing the other end of its own weapon around. This attack was too fast and came from a low angle that he didn't see coming. That was how he got hit in his side under his arm and sent stumbling back in pain, completely unable to stop the follow-up attack that caught him in the side of his face, sending him spinning to the ground with gasps and grunts of pain.

Hearing her brother fall, Leia shot him a fast glance. Seeing him on the ground caused her anger and aggression to spike momentarily as she quickly swung back to her own opponent, jabbing her own staff into its torso as strongly as she could. The unexpected power of the blow sent it stumbling backwards out of the ring. Without missing a beat, Leia raced from her position towards Luke, who was about to be dealt the finishing blow by his opponent. Thrusting her staff forward, she barely caught the attack, heaving upwards on her staff and sending her opponent's weapon flying out of its grasp and high into the air. Acting on impulse, she pushed her one of her hands forward powerfully, sending out a strong blast of Force power that hit Luke's opponent full in the torso. The impact it made against the stone wall some five meters away would've likely broke bones and sent the person immediately to the hospital for treatment, had it not been a droid they'd been fighting. But as it was, the droid's chassis was compressed and dented mightily as its head and arms were broken off from their sockets in its body.

Spinning her staff around as she turned to verify that they were the victors, Leia grinned in triumph. Turning to Luke, she helped him up to his feet with a strained smile. Both of them were panting and sweating heavily, their faces and bodies bruised and bloodied from strikes they hadn't been able to block, and their clothing wet with sweat and dusty with dirt.

"You need to…stop trying to take…the hits, Luke," Leia said, smiling at Luke's unhappy pout. "Sometimes…it's just easier to…dodge them."

"But I'm not as…fast as you," Luke pointed out, lightly holding his aching side with his free hand and leaning heavily on his staff.

Leia shrugged as she turned him around and started lightly beating some of the loose dust off the back of his clothing. Luke was now dressed in a simple blue tunic and trousers with an equally blue belt around his small waist. Unlike his old white desert clothes, these clothes were quite well made and had excellent range of motion, hence why he had taken to wearing them whenever he could. And it seemed that Leia also shared his opinion in this matter, wearing a near-identical set except green in color.

Since it had been discovered that they were siblings and that she was technically no longer the Princess of Alderaan, Leia had adopted several things from Luke. Namely, his Skywalker name and the chance to wear simpler clothes of a style that she _desired,_ rather than what was _required_ of her. She knew she would _not_ miss being everyone's dress-up doll.

Once Luke was as clean as she could hurriedly get him, she backed away and ran her hand over her heavily and ornately braided hair. As willing as she was to leave many of her royal traits behind, she decided that she'd keep some of the more practical hair designs and styles, a small memento of her early childhood as it were.

A light clapping sound above them drew the pair's attention to the balcony that overlooked their little training area. Standing near the center of the balcony was a green-skinned Rodian who wore some kind of ceremonial robes that neither of the children had ever seen before. Smiling slightly down at them, the Rodian nodded as he stopped clapping. "Impressive, children. _Quite_ impressive."

"Who are you?" Luke asked, hurriedly picking up his staff again. He was weary of strangers, something that had been ingrained into him by his uncle and aunt on Tatooine for as long as he could remember. And while many of the people he'd met in Aldera and the palace itself were quite nice, if a bit snooty at his 'backwater background', he didn't trust them to not attack him or Leia just yet.

"I am Bolla Ropal," the Rodian said, moving over to the staircase. As he continued his somewhat slow pace down the stairs, he kept his gaze on the children as he continued speaking, "I am a Jedi Master. I received information about a pair of very strong Force-sensitives who'd shown up here, under unusual circumstances with an unusual story."

"Okay," Leia said slowly, her eyes wide with excitement at meeting a real and breathing Jedi Master. But she didn't let her excitement overpower her wits. "But that doesn't tell us what you want or what you do. Are going to take us to the Temple? Are you here to tell us what's happened to us? Or are you just…meeting us to see if we _can_ be Jedi?"

Ropal smiled slightly at her with each question she asked. "Insightful and inquisitive. You would make an excellent diplomat, youngling." Looking over at the boy, Ropal gained a strange far away gaze to his eyes, as though trying to see beyond the horizon. With the lingering tethers of their connection to the Force still upon them, both Luke and Leia were able to faintly perceive that the Rodian was doing something in it. After only a moment, his gaze snapped back to the present as a confused expression spread across his face.

"Who are you, children?" he asked, more to himself than them. "You have potent strength, yet we've never heard of you. Earlier, you were shining in the Force, cutting away the surrounding darkness with casual effort. And yet now, you have withdrawn and the darkness has returned." The siblings glanced at one another, uncertain of how to respond.

"Are you really a Jedi?" Luke finally asked, gaining Ropal's attention. "I've heard a lot of stories on Tatooine, but everyone always said they were a lot of tricks and lies."

Smiling broadly now, Ropal turned and gestured towards the broken combat droid. With only a minimal amount of concentration and a wave of his hand, the droid was lifted into the air and floated over to the pair. Raising the droid as he drew up alongside them, Ropal said, "I can assure you that the Jedi do not perform tricks or lies. We stand for justice, truth, and peace in the Republic."

"But only the Republic, right?" Luke asked, turning his gaze from the floating wreckage to the Jedi.

"I beg your pardon?" Ropal asked, surprised, lowering the droid down to the ground.

"You Jedi only care about keeping peace in the Republic," Luke clarified, voicing one of many complaints he'd heard about the Order all throughout his young life. "You stay in the Core and Colony worlds, helping those who don't need it while those in the Rim worlds struggle to survive against bandits and pirates."

Frowning, Ropal studied the young boy. It was clear that while he was repeating what he'd been raised to believe, the boy was also genuinely curious to Ropal's answers. "Understand, youngling, that the Jedi Order does what it can. But we number only 10 thousand in a galaxy of trillions. We are too few to protect the entire galaxy. We need the Republic's aid. And, that being the case, we also must obey the laws of the Republic. That makes it tricky to help others who live outside the Republic's influence."

"But you only help Republic," Luke repeated, this time more forcefully. "You spend more time in the Core helping politicians and royals when you could be elsewhere. Like helping farmers who can bare grow enough food, slaves who are under bad masters, and street kids who have no homes."

"We are only 10 thousand, youngling," Ropal repeated patiently. "We do what we can, when we can. But we are still too few." Seeing the rebellious gaze in the boy's eyes, and even the slightly similar gaze growing in the girl's, Ropal decided to change tactics. "How about a lesson in connecting to the Force?"

He smiled internally at seeing their immediate interest. Walking over to the still functioning droid, he fiddled with its settings for a moment, beginning his lesson as he did so. "You have good reflexes, strength, and endurance, but the Force isn't so limited. Reach out with your feelings, trust your instincts, not your eyes, and remember to never attack."

"What's that mean?" Leia asked as he turned back to them.

Walking back up to the kids, he reached down and undid Luke's belt. "It means do not lash out in anger, aggression, or fear. These are negative emotions that can lead you down a very dark and cold path." Seeing their dawning realization, Ropal wondered if they'd already felt the brush of the dark side. It was entirely possible, but somewhat unlikely since he was sure the Jedi would've already felt the presence of a strong enough darksider. Raising up the boy's belt, he tied it around his head, covering his eyes. "Now, do it again. Reach out, feel, don't think. Use your instincts." Beckoning the girl back, Ropal stepped away as the combat droid approached the tense and weary boy.

"But how can I fight if I can't see?" Luke wondered aloud, setting himself up into a defensive position.

"Your eyes can trick or distract you," Ropal stated with certainty. "That is why you were beaten earlier. Don't trust your eyes, trust the Force. Reach out, feel the droid's movements before it attacks, let the Force flow through you."

"You mean it can control us?" Leia asked, watching her brother stepping back cautiously from the advancing droid.

"Partially," the Jedi admitted with a noncommittal shrug. "But it also obeys your commands."

The droid lashed out, catching Luke in the side and knocking him stumbling. Seeing the boy's annoyance and anger, Ropal quickly said, "Calm down. Listen, feel."

Doing so quickly, Luke set himself up again and waited, listening and trying to 'feel'. The droid struck high, hitting Luke in his earlier bruise and sending him to the ground in pain. Quickly pulling down his improvised blindfold, he groaned out, "I'm trying, but I can't! It's too quick! It's not letting me!"

" _Do_ or _do not_ , there is _no_ try!" Ropal said, earning confused stares from the children. "It means that if you _don't_ _believe_ you can succeed and win, then you _won't_. _Believe_ you can, and you _will_."

Nodding uncertainly, Luke pushed himself back to his feet and pulled his blindfold back on. This time, he waited, he listened, he believed he could win. He knew he could because he'd faced harder challenges than this, like that space battle he'd been in. And then he felt it…a gentle, almost unnoticeable nudge against his body, telling him to dodge to the side. Allowing whatever he felt to do so, he moved to the side, hearing the swing of a staff pass through the space he'd previously occupied. Then he felt another nudge and went with it, quickly ducking down in a deep crouch, feeling the wind rustle his hair as the other end of the staff shot by overhead.

Reacting quickly, he swung the low end of his staff upwards as strongly as he could. The end of it struck the droid and he heaved with all his might, using the Force to again bolster his strength. Spinning around from the force of his attack, Luke heard a loud, metallic crash behind him as the ground shook from the impact briefly. Grabbing his blindfold, Luke spun around and stared in surprise down at his opponent that was lying face-down in the dirt.

"See?" Ropal said, smiling. "You _can_ do it."

"Way to go, Luke!" Leia cheered, grinning as she ran over to inspect Luke's handiwork.

Looking back at Ropal, Luke nodded his head. "I…I did feel something. Something…pushing me, telling where to go, why and how."

"That's good!" Ropal acknowledged. "Now, you must learn to rely on that for it can save your life in the future."

"I wanna learn something cool!" Leia interjected, stepping up alongside Luke with wide, eager eyes. "Teach me something!"

"Very well." Reaching into his pockets, Ropal pulled out a strange glowing cube slightly larger in size than his fist. The incredible intricacy of the designs engraved on its surface and the almost supernatural glow it was giving off quickly drew the kids' awe as they stared at it. "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. And as such, this device is one of the many things we use to store what we learn in. This is a Jedi Holocron, one of many that I've been studying from the library of the Temple."

Taking the cube with a hesitant reverence, Leia glanced from it to him in askance. "How do I get inside it?"

Lowering himself into a kneeling position, he beckoned the children to follow him. "Just like your friend. You need to reach out into the Force, feel, use your instincts. The Holocron only opens when a Jedi is calm and willing to learn."

"Believe you can," Luke advised quietly, watching Leia as she slowly closed her eyes.

After several long moments of silence, Ropal heard something from the Holocron. One of the corners had shifted. Then the Holocron shuttered as three more sections rotated open and the internal glow started to brighten slightly. Another moment passed and the Holocron began to rise into the air. Then the sections separated as a hologram of the galaxy appeared over it. Ropal smiled as he watched the girl hesitantly open her eyes and stare at the galaxy's hologram, seeking knowledge that only she could comprehend since she was the one communing with it. After several moments, the hologram faded and the Holocron reformed itself back into its original shape.

"What did you learn?" Luke asked curiously.

"There are other Temples all throughout the galaxy!" Leia said, glancing over at Luke briefly before returning her gaze to Ropal. "The Jedi used to be much more widespread, thousands of years ago." Though her voice was conversational, Ropal didn't miss the slight accusation in her statement. "They used to help _everyone_ , even in the Outer Rim, before the Senate called them back to the Core."

"We were much more numerous back then," Ropal said, knowing his statements would probably be seen as excuses by the two children but they were still the truth. "The Great Sith War, the Jedi Civil, the Great Galactic Wars, and the war against the Brotherhood of Darkness killed many thousands of us, we've only just recently started recovering from those losses."

There was a moment of silence that passed between them as the kids considered what he'd told them. Ropal stared at the two of them inquisitively. If he was honest with himself, he would admit to being very surprised by these two. Though the message he'd received stated that the children had unusually high midi-chlorian counts, he hadn't trusted that report at face value. He wanted to meet them and develop an opinion of them firsthand, to witness the strength of their connections to the Force in person. But his observations only confirmed what the report had said; these two were incredibly strong in the Force.

For a pair of complete novices, they had learned to consciously feel and utilize the Force so much quicker than any other youngling he'd ever come across before, and he'd seen many thousands of younglings over the years. Their talent and easy connection with the Force was simply unfathomable. With perhaps the exception of Anakin Skywalker, whom he only knew by reputation, these two were easily the strongest in all of the galaxy, and their learning curves were obscenely high and fast. He truly wondered who their parents were.

"Leia! Luke!" a voice called from the balcony overhead. "Dinner will be ready shortly. Go get washed and—Oh! Master Jedi! Wha-What are you doing here?"

Standing quickly, the three of them looked up at the balcony to see Breha floating there in her hoverchair. The expression on her face was calm, if surprised, but all of them could sense the churning emotions below the surface. She was upset about something, though she was doing her best to hide it.

"Run along, children," Ropal said, waving the kids off. "It would seem I've taken up enough of your time."

"I hope we can learn more later, Master," Leia said, smiling slightly at him before she joined Luke in running up the staircase and into the palace to clean themselves.

Once the kids were out of hearing range, Breha spoke up, "Forgive me, Master Jedi, but I hadn't known of your arrival. May I enquire to the reason of your visit?"

"My apologies, Your Majesty," Ropal said as he ascended the stairs in a much calmer fashion to stand before the royal. "But I received a binary transmission from a doctor in the Royal Palace claiming to have found a pair of Force-sensitives and had come to investigate. I had assumed you were aware of this."

"No," Breha admitted, shaking her head as her gaze narrowed in anger. "It would seem that my doctor went behind my back on this issue. I hadn't intended to contact the Jedi Order about those two until they'd had a chance to get settled and…acquainted with the galaxy."

"Yes," Ropal acknowledge, nodding. "I had also heard about that. The unusual circumstances of their arrival and parts of the story they've shared. _Very_ unusual."

"That being the case, I didn't want to contact the Order until I felt they would be able to safely function in the galaxy without being made laughingstocks of," Breha said. That wasn't the only reason, but definitely a fair substitute for the real one. The real reason she didn't want to let them go so soon was because having them in the palace was somewhat how she'd imagined it would be like if she ever managed to have children, her deepest wish. The two children just brought a refreshing breath of new air into the stale, old halls of power and she was hesitant to let them go.

"Yes," Ropal said, sensing that she wasn't telling the whole truth but enough of it. He let it go for now. "Be that as it may, I would like to speak with you about any new things you might've learned from the crafts they flew to get here. Any new discoveries made on their origins?"

* * *

 **Caamas**

Eyes snapping open, the Hunter let a feral sneer across his face. He just caught a familiar sensation of a tingling in the Force. Those two Children of the Force, his primary targets, were using the Force again in a substantial amount. And best of all, they were nearby!

The predator had just picked up a scent. Let the hunt begin…

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Heheheheh, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm sure many of you can see a lot of references to the original trilogy training sessions and conversations of communing with the Force. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Thanks to **animefan29** and **Fiori75** for reviewing this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 05_

 **06:1:27 GrS  
Hangar Bay, Aldera Royal Palace**

Breha sat in her hoverchair as she watched the two children play with the paint they were supposed to be using to repaint the Z-95 Headhunter. Despite herself, her upbringing, and the children's impending departure, a mischievous smile had spread across her face as she watched the two. It had started out simple and calm enough earlier at breakfast.

"Can I keep the Headhunter?" Luke had asked. "There's so much I want to see and do before I go back to Tatooine."

"Like what and where?" Leia asked, looking up from her own meal.

"I don't know," Luke admitted, smiling sheepishly. "That's why I wanna go and explore!"

"I would recommend against that, children," Master Ropal had said. "The galaxy is a big place, very dangerous, and easy to get lost in if you don't know where you're going. It would be wiser to remain here for the time being."

Breha quite sure that what he'd left unspoken was that if they were off exploring the galaxy at their own whims, it'd no doubt make locating the two children more difficult. But she kept quiet on that as she swallowed her own mouthful of food and said, "I have already listed the starfighter under your name and into your ownership, Luke. All that's left is an identification card, some credits to properly fuel and maintain the starship, and a certified flying license, and it's all yours."

"Can we keep the yacht too?" Leia asked, her eyes wide with hope and expectation.

"No," both Ropal and Breha had answered simultaneously. After a moment, Breha continued, "While there is a lot of gray area in the law about letting you keep the starfighter, you two are far too young to own a starship any larger than a two-seater. When you're at least 13, you will be considered old enough to responsibly pilot a ship of light freight size."

"Not in the Outer Rim," Luke muttered, more to himself than the others. Though Breha and Ropal frowned, they made no attempt to correct him as they both knew that laws and regulations of that sort were rarely, if ever, followed that far out into the fringes of colonized space.

"Fine," Leia pouted. Then she perked up again with a fresh smile. "But I hate the colors! Let's repaint it, Luke!"

From there, the conversation delved into a lighthearted argument between the siblings about what new colors they could make it. Leia wanted it to be bright white with pink and purple. Luke wanted a simple blue, red, or even tan color. In the end, it was Ropal who suggested a compromise between their two most favorite colors. And now, the two children were busy finishing up the paint job that they'd spent the better part of the day doing. The stench of the fresh paint was quite overpowering, even with strong air conditioning and leaving the hangar bay doors open to help dispel the strong fumes.

Even though it was a pair of children who were responsible for it, Breha had to admit that their first attempt wasn't as horrible as she'd thought it'd be. The overall color was a bright white, as Leia had wanted, with some rather prominent blue stripes along the fuselage and wings, which Luke insisted on having. They had actually gotten nearly finished with it when Leia decided that she'd gotten bored and wanted to liven things up. It started out small, with the young girl flicking some paint drops up at her brother, staining his blue clothes and blonde hair with white flecks. Luke of course retaliated with his own, catching her in the face by accident. Leia retaliated with escalating force.

Soon, the two of them rolling on the floor, buckets of paint spilled upon the ancient stonework, leaving puddles that the two were pushing one another into. They were nearly fully covered in white paint from head to toe, their clothes stained beyond repair. Despite the mess and the slight aggression they were treating each other with, Breha could see that both of them were quite enjoying themselves, so she was content to watch them play for the moment.

That was when an angry Rodian had marched up to them from the side, stopping just before the large paint puddles on the floor. Using the Force, Ropal pried them off of one another and held them separate several meters apart. "Children, this is not how we act in public! Behave! If you truly want to be Jedi, you will cease this childish display immediately!"

There was a moment of silence as the two of them looked at Ropal with unreadable expressions on their faces, thanks in large part to the paint stuck to their faces in thick globs. But then, as he was moving to climb to his feet, Luke slipped in one of the paint puddles and fell to the floor unceremoniously. Leia broke out laughing at this as she began to climb to her own feet, only to slip as well. This caused Luke to join in her laughter as well. The two of them continued their laughing and giggling as they finally climbed to their feet and hurried out of the hangar and away from the upset Jedi, probably (hopefully!) to get themselves cleaned up.

"Let it go, Master Jedi," Breha said, floating down beside him. "They're only children."

Taking a visibly deep breath to calm himself, Ropal turned to her. "Whether they know it or not, they are the future of this galaxy and the Jedi Order. They should be better behaved than this." For Ropal, who had been indoctrinated into the Jedi Order as an infant and as a Master who focused more on his study of the Unifying Force than the Living Force, it seemed a foregone conclusion for him that the two siblings would join the Order as well.

"And when the time comes, they will be," Breha assured him knowingly. "But for now, let them have their fun. Remember, they are still children. Let them act the part, because, after all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

Ropal looked at her appraisingly before nodding. "Perhaps…"

"Have you finished your report to the Jedi Council?" Breha asked, turning her hoverchain towards the exit with Ropal following.

"Indeed," Ropal answered easily enough, it wasn't like this was classified information. "They were most…surprised to hear my acknowledgement of the original report's validity."

"I suppose it isn't every day one runs into a child that's so strong in the Force," Breha commented lightly. "Let alone two."

"Indeed," Ropal agreed. "But that wasn't the only thing that caught them by surprise."

"Yes?"

"The fact that they are siblings and Skywalkers to boot," Ropal said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What's wrong with that?" Breha asked, glancing over at the Jedi.

"Not so much wrong as surprising," he admitted. "They would not be the first Skywalker we've found recently who has such an incredible concentration of midi-chlorians."

"You mean there's another Skywalker in the Order who's just as strong as them?" This was very surprising news for Breha. The Jedi Order was tiny in comparison to the galactic population, especially since they were forbidden from having families. So the fact that there was another Skywalker in the Order was something she'd not heard before. And the fact that he or she was also probably just as strong. Was it possible the Skywalker family had always been so powerfully gifted in the Force? If so, why hadn't anyone in the galaxy ever heard of them before?

"Yes," Ropal said. "I haven't personally met the boy and the boy's still just a Padawan, but his potential is unsurpassed by any other. He's so powerful that we had thought that he might've been…conceived by the Force itself."

"Is such a thing possible?" Breha asked in disbelief and skepticism.

"All things are possible in the Force," Ropal stated with total certainty. "And our understanding of it is still far from complete. But now…I wonder where these two have come from. If they were not conceived by the Force, then who is their father or mother and why haven't we come across them before? And their mere existence also throws question into just who the _other_ Skywalker's father is or _if_ he had a father."

He was talking more to himself than Breha at this point, but the Queen wasn't going to interrupt. This was fascinating information that she was learning and it implied many things about all three Skywalkers.

* * *

 **Later that night…**

Luke couldn't sleep tonight. He was restless, scared, cold. Something…something bad was coming. He knew it. He could feel it. It was like he was a nerf that had caught the eyes of a krayt dragon, who was now stalking him, hiding just under the sandy surface in preparation for the killing bite. And he didn't like this sensation one bit. But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was he felt as though he should recognize this cold, hungry feeling. Like he'd felt it somewhere before. But he just couldn't figure out how, where, and why.

Giving up on going to sleep, Luke climbed out of his bed with regret since he'd never slept in such a wonderful bed before. Pulling on his new blue tunic, trousers, and some shoes, he quietly headed out of his room. He still wasn't very familiar with the enormous layout of the palace, but he knew where he wanted to go well enough. Following the path he'd found, he soon found himself back out in the inner courtyard where he and Leia would regularly practice their self-defense training and occasionally try to touch the Force.

"Do or do not," Luke repeated himself as he approached the center of the courtyard and knelt down. Closing his eyes, he let out a long breath as he again sought to achieve what Leia had so easily learned. Even though they were siblings, they had some rather obvious differences in abilities. Where Leia was better able to use the Force as a weapon during combat, Luke had an easier time communing with it, letting it guide and encourage him. He just couldn't seem to work up the strength of will necessary to control the Force as a weapon just yet, and it was starting to frustrate him.

"You couldn't sleep too?" Leia asked quietly as she knelt down next to him.

"No," Luke said, not opening his eyes as he sought to reach the Force. "Something's not right."

"It's cold, hungry, dangerous," Leia said, as though speaking his mind and maybe she was. "And it wants us."

"I think…I think we should leave, tonight," Luke said. "I don't want something bad to happen to Mrs. Organa."

"But Master Ropal's still here," Leia pointed out. "He can protect her and us if needed."

"But I don't wanna be protected," Luke said, somewhat pouting. "The only ones who need to be protected are those who can't fight for themselves."

"Is that something your uncle taught you?" Leia asked. While it wasn't something she felt the need to argue against, it seemed a bit softhearted for what she'd heard about his stern and uncompromising uncle.

"No," Luke admitted. "My grandpa and aunt taught me that."

"…You really wanna go home, don't you?" Leia asked. "Why do you want to? What's so great about that dustball?"

"Nothing," Luke said simply. "But it's where my family is."

There was a moment of silence between them as the two tried to collect their thoughts and seek the warm, comforting touch of the Force. Finally, unable to keep her silence on the matter any longer, Leia said, "I don't think we should go there. Or, if we do, we shouldn't stay."

"Why?" Luke asked sharply, finally opening his eyes and looking over at his sister.

"Things are different than what they should be," Leia said, meeting his upset gaze unflinchingly. "My mother is far younger than she should be. No one has ever heard of the Galactic Empire or the Emperor. The Jedi Order is still alive. And there are no Imperials around trying to control everything and everyone. Why?"

"…I don't know," Luke admitted. That was something that had been plaguing his mind endlessly since they'd arrived on Alderaan. And no one he asked could give him any adequate answers, not without looking at him like he was some kind backwater and ignorant savage.

"I think I do, now," Leia said. "I looked at the time before I came out here. Do you want time it is?"

"Late?" Luke asked, unsure what the answer was or how it mattered to what was going on.

Shaking her head with an annoyed smile, Leia said, "It was about 1am of the 28th day of the 1st month of the 6th galactic cycle."

"What?" Luke said, confused. "That can't be right. Isn't it the 23rd cycle?"

"Yes and no," Leia said, her expression unreadable. "For us, it would be the 23rd. But for everyone else, it's the 6th."

"You mean…?"

"That's right, children," a deep, gravelly voice sounded from across the courtyard. The two siblings flinched and quickly jumped to their feet, sliding into defensive postures. "That hyperdrive explosion we were caught in brought us 17 years into the past." Like a demon predator stalking from the shadows, a large and heavily muscled Twi'lek in armor appeared. Though his face was shrouded in shadow, they could hear his amusement in his voice and see an evil, unnatural golden glow in his eyes. "I have been looking for you two for quite some time now."

"What do you want with us?" Leia demanded loudly, subtly hoping to attract the palace security's attention to help them with this dangerous creature.

"Who are you?" Luke asked just as loudly, though his reasoning was that he was trying to bury his fear under his loud voice. It didn't work very well.

"You already know _who_ I am," the Twi'lek said, sneering as he sensed that oh-so-sweet aura of fear permeating from the two. "I am the hunter and you are my prey." As he said this, he grabbed his lightsaber and ignited it, relishing seeing them flinch back in surprise as their fear spiked substantially. And there on his waist, illuminated by the glow of his red blade, was something that caught Luke's attention.

"But why are you hunting _us?_ " Leia asked. "We haven't done anything to you!"

"Because it is what I was born and raised to _do_ ," the hunter sneered. "I need no other reason than that."

"I ain't going anywhere with _you!_ " Luke accented his last declaration by impulsively thrusting out his hand, yanking. With a slight tear, the lightsaber that had been hanging there was pulled from his belt and shot into Luke's hand, who immediately activated it, rushing to meet the monster in combat.

Though surprised, the monster grinned as he watched his attacker approach. With one hand, he easily caught the boy's weak swings and slashes, deflecting them to the sides. "Is that all you've got, boy? What a disappointment." He loved the sense of growing fear and anger in the boy, which spiked at his comment.

Knocking the boy's arm to the side with a casual swipe, he made to stab the boy in his arm and force him to drop the lightsaber. However, Leia cried out in alarm at seeing her brother open to such an attack. Launching a weak but rather focused Force blast, she was able to hit the hunter's shoulder and knocked his aim off, missing Luke entirely.

Recovering from his momentary fear and attack, Luke let out his own cry and launched a powerful blast of telekinesis. He had acted on instinct, wanting to send the monster before them as far away from them as he could. Thus, while he was able to attack, it wasn't as well focused or as powerful as it should've been if he'd been actively controlling it. This was how the hunter was able to deactivate his lightsaber and throw up his arms to form a Force shield in defense of the blast. That blast, which should've killed him had it been properly focused, was thus unable to fully penetrate his more experienced shield, even though it did send him flying into the far wall.

Not wasting a moment, Leia grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him away. The pair were racing up the stairs and into the palace by the time the hunter had recovered enough from the blast to pursue them. As they ran, Leia spotted one of the emergency fire levers and pulled it. The response was immediate. Nozzles sprung out of the ceiling and walls, water spraying out and blasting everything within their range, red lights of alarm flashing to life as a loud, attention-grabbing siren shrieked deafeningly in the echoing halls of the palace. Behind them, the monster was stalking forward as silently and forebodingly as a prowling predator, following their fear like a scent trail.

Knowing the palace like the back of her hand, Leia was easily able to pull Luke through its twisting maze. Her first inclination was to rush to her mother, hoping her beautiful maternal figure would be able to provide her protection from the monster like she always had in the past. But Leia wasn't naïve enough to give into that impulse anymore. She knew that her mother was still very tired and physically and emotionally hurt from whatever had happened her to recently. Plus, the monster was some type of evil Jedi-like mystic, he could easily kill the weakened woman with no effort. Her next inclination was to find Jedi Master Ropal, but she didn't know where his quarters were, or if he was even housed in the palace at all. No, she and Luke were on their own. That meant that, to protect her mother and hopefully everyone else, they needed to leave.

Pulling Luke into the hangar bay where their 'new' Z-95 Headhunter was still faithfully waiting for them, she pushed him towards the ship. "You get it powered up! We're leaving! I'll deal with him!"

"But—" Luke was cut off by Leia shoving him forward, a forceful demand to get his ass moving. Fearful of disobeying his sister and letting her get hurt or caught by that monster, he quickly gave up the argument and rushed for the starfighter.

Leia turned back to the hangar bay door controls. With her fear and high emotions as extra fuel, she reached out her hand as she drew upon the Force. Sensing that she had the control panel within her grasp, she clenched her fist in a symbolic gesture of crushing the panel. A split second later, the panel was little more than twisted metal and plastic as the heavy bay doors slammed shut with a deafening clang. Turning back to the hangar, she hurried over to the small control section, activating it and entering the command for the outside doors to open. Once the red light flashed green in confirmation, she rushed over to the starfighter, who's engines were now hissing and roaring as they were fired up.

A flash of red and a loud hissing noise drew Leia's attention behind her momentarily. There was a shaft of red light piercing the locked hangar bay doors, slowly making its way downwards. The monster was almost on them! Redoubling her efforts, she rushed to the starfighter, grabbing its small handrails and began pulling herself up. Luke helped pull her up when she was close enough until she collapsed into the tiny passenger seat behind him. Actually, calling it a passenger seat was being far too generous. It was more of a small storage space for the pilot than anything else, but Leia's small body was still able to easily fit within its confines all the same.

By the time the hunter had managed to cut the doors enough to use the Force to pry them apart, it was far too late to stop the starfighter from blasting out of the open outside bay doors. He glared in frustration as he watched the four small engines vanish into the night overhead. Growling lowly in his throat, he switched off his lightsaber and stalked forward for the exit. He wasn't foolish enough to think that he could still catch them if he rushed to where he'd landed his TIE Advanced and fired it up. The two would be in hyperspace long before he broke through the atmosphere.

"The hunt goes on, children," he growled out before dropping out of sight.

* * *

 **06:1:28 GrS  
Jedi Temple, Coruscant**

In the seclusion of his personal meditation room, the small, wrinkled, green figure of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order pondered and sought knowledge from the Force. He had been doing so for the better part of two weeks now, ever since he'd felt something change in the flow of the Force. Something was different now. He had felt it, briefly, faintly. The growing shroud of darkness that had been and still was encompassing the galaxy and blinding him to the Force had momentarily faltered. In that moment of disturbance, like waves rippling towards shore by a cast stone, he had been able to detect a pair of newly-awakened Force-sensitives. He couldn't be sure, given the distance and the rapid return of the shroud, but he was very certain that those two presences had been incredibly strong.

But that wasn't all that he had momentarily felt when he sensed them. He had also felt an incredible sense of destiny surrounding the two. It wasn't anything like the destiny he sensed for young Anakin Skywalker. That boy's fate was clouded by his own fear, uncertainty, and growing ambition. He could've done and become anything and Yoda was unable to accurately predict which path he was more likely to choose. But these two new presences were different. It wasn't so much that their destinies were clouded, but it was more like no matter what they did in life, they would be _great_. If he were honest with himself, Yoda would admit to feeling more than a little humbled in that brief instant he'd been able to sense them.

But where were these two 'great destinies' now? Where had they come from? What was happening to them now? Where were they going? What did they want? These questions and more were plaguing Yoda's mind for days, causing him to dedicate himself to scrying the Force, hoping to find even another hint of them. But his efforts had mostly been in vain. But then he was given a reprieve by the Force when word eventually trickled up to the Jedi High Council about Breha Organa of Alderaan discovering a new pair of powerful Force-sensitives. Yoda had been waiting with all his considerable patience for Master Bolla Ropal to reach Alderaan and survey the children.

As these thoughts and his hopes for what was to come were drifting through his mind, Yoda blinked suddenly as he sensed something happen. Another disturbance was rocking the ebb and flow of the Force, sending out shivers and ripples. Unlike the previous time, these were much stronger because they were a great deal closer. Quickly reorienting himself, he delved back into the convulsing energy field, seeking the source of this disturbance. In his mind's eye, he glimpsed planets, stars, and whole systems shooting past him as he zeroed in on the cause. He watched as a familiar blue-green planet flashed before him, taking him down to its surface.

Flashing through the capital city, he came upon the Royal Palace as a pair of children, a blonde boy and a brunette girl of likely the same age, faced off against a dark armored figure who held a red lightsaber threateningly up at them. The boy, holding a lightsaber of his own, yelled out something that he couldn't hear before sending a strong but unfocused Force Wave at the figure. Once the figure was knocked off its feet, the girl grabbed the boy and they fled into the palace, raising the alarm as they ran, likely hoping to slow their pursuer down somewhat.

His vision blurred momentarily as another wave in the Force reached him. Riding the disturbance with skillful ease, he returned to his earlier vision just in time to watch as a blue and white starfighter fled from the Royal Hangar. He didn't even need the Force to know that the starfighter rocketing for space before vanishing into hyperspace had been carrying to two children who'd been inadvertently tormenting him so much recently. Frowning, Yoda returned his attention towards their attacker. Who was he or she? And why were they after those two? Sweeping over the Royal Palace and the surrounding lands, Yoda failed to find any trace of the figure, which was _very_ disturbing.

A chime at his room's door pulled the ancient Grandmaster from his meditations. "Enter."

The door slid open, revealing a young Padawan. "Master Yoda," the Padawan greeted respectfully. "Master Windu requests your presence in the High Council. There is an urgent transmission from Alderaan."

"Hm, urgent indeed," Yoda agreed, nodding his head knowingly. "Come quickly, I will. Return to your duties, Padawan, you may now."

The Padawan bowed lowly at the dismissal before leaving quickly. Yoda briefly returned the bow as he hobbled onto his hoverchair. Normally, he preferred to walk wherever he could within the Temple, but sometimes he felt the need to hurry along. And when that whim or need struck, he was quite glad to climb onto his hoverchair and move about. With his hoverchair carrying him, he reached the council chamber in less than ten minutes of the summons.

Entering the chamber, he was met by Masters Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Ki-Adi-Mundi.

"Master," Ki-Adi-Mundi greeted respectfully, bowing.

Nodding in response, Yoda said, "A transmission, I hear there has been. What news comes of Alderaan?"

"Rather distressing news," Plo said, his deep voice rumbling through his breath mask. As he spoke, he reached over and pressed a button on the small console near him. A hologram of Bolla Ropal appeared in the center of the room and began speaking quickly.

" _Masters, I don't have much time, so I'll be brief_ ," Ropal said, bowing slightly. " _There has been some kind of break-in at the Royal Palace. I don't have all the details, but I was able to sense a great deal of fear, anger, and aggression from the two Children I've come to investigate. That is troubling, but not so much as the dark shadow I had sensed near them when it happened, shortly before the alarms were pulled. I don't know what has happened, but I do know that the Children are no longer on the planet. The starfighter that Breha Organa had gifted them is missing as well. I will report back as soon as I learn more of the situation that has occurred here_."

"This message is roughly twenty minutes old," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, answering Yoda's question before he could ask it. "I imagine we'll be hearing back from Master Ropal shortly."

"Hmm…" Yoda hummed heavily, thoughts racing through his mind.

"You sensed it too, didn't you?" Mace asked, looking at Yoda meaningfully. "That disturbance, the imbalance."

"Yes, I did," Yoda admitted, meeting Windu's gaze unflinchingly. "Something new has appeared. Something strong, but untrained and headstrong."

"Those two children," Plo guessed easily.

"Yes, very powerful they are," Yoda said, nodding. "Must find them again, bring them here, train them properly, we must."

"Is that wise, Master?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked skeptically. "Making yet more exceptions to our rules? Young Skywalker is strong and talented, but he is also headstrong and proud. Do you really think it wise to bring two more children who could likely be the same, if not worse, than what he has become?"

"We don't know that they'll become like him, even if they are as equally strong," Plo Koon pointed out calmly. "I sense that they are different."

"Yes, very different these two are," Yoda said strongly. "Though faintly from this distance, great destinies could I sense from them."

"But destiny is a tricky thing to predict or understand," Mace said, speaking lowly and thoughtfully. "Could they be a great beacon of hope for the galaxy or tyrants in the making?"

" _Find_ them, _train_ them, we _**must**_ ," Yoda reasserted sternly, glancing between the three Council members. The three of them could only nod in agreement.

* * *

 **06:2:01 GrS  
Carida**

With a heavy thump, the Z-95 Headhunter set down roughly in a clearing that was hidden deeply within the forested mountains of the area. After the canopy opened, a pair of exhausted children climbed weakly out. They were so weak that they lost their grips on the handgrips halfway down and fell the short distance to the ground, heaving mightily where they lay.

"Nice…land…ding," Leia gasped out weakly from her crumpled position atop of him.

"Shut…up," Luke groaned, trying and failing to roll over and get Leia off of him.

"Now, what do…we do?" Leia asked. "We can't…go home anymore…and _it's_ still…after us."

"I know," Luke gasped, finally managing to roll Leia off of him. Why did she weigh so much all of a sudden? Sure, they were stuck in the cramped starfighter for several days with little to no food, but it shouldn't have had _this_ much of an effect on them…should it?

"I don't know…what we do," Luke said, speaking softly and shortly to conserve his strength and breath for more important matters, like pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"We hide… _train_ … _learn_ …" Leia offered, looking to the side at her brother. "Then we…strong, we…find, _fight_ …and _kill it_." Though he looked uncomfortable at the thought of killing that monster, Luke nodded slowly. As far as plans go, it would suffice for now.

In the meantime, they needed to figure out what to do in the here and now. Reaching out and drawing weakly upon the Force, pulling it into himself to bolster his strength, Luke finally was able to sit up and look around. The clearing was large enough to comfortably land the starfighter and still have enough room for a small campsite. Though he knew next to nothing about living off the land in a mountainous forest like this, he did know that no matter where a person went, they needed three things to survive: food, clothing, and shelter. They had clothing and enough ration bars in the Headhunter to last for a few days if they were conservative, so they just needed to make some shelter to protect them from local wildlife and the environment itself.

Pushing himself up with all of his strength, Luke was able to finally get his feet under him and force himself to stand up as tall as his small form could manage. It was a very small step, but it would work for now.

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Thank you, **animefan29** , for all the help and the compelling argument of starfighter vs. yacht!

I know this chapter is a bit short and chaotic, but I didn't want to waste much time on Alderaan. I really wanted to leave and move on with the story, which would only really happen after they'd left. So, we can thank the Fifth Hunter for that. Look forward to the next chapter, as it's the start of the new arc and leads up to the 'big event' of the story.

In case anyone's wondering, Carida is listed to have twice the galactic standard for gravity. That is why the twins were unable to stand up when they landed. Granted, they don't know that, so they think it's for other reasons they can't stand up properly.

PS: For any ambitious writers out there, feel free to use my setting if you want. I admit that the first two or so chapters would've been excellent opening to a _Rebels_ -themed story, rather than making it a time-skip story.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 06_

 **12:9:12 GrS  
Carida**

The landscape where a pair of young children in a starfighter had set down five years ago had changed somewhat considerably. The original clearing remained much the same, but now had signs of civilized life scattered in and around it like random crates of cargo, a small storage hut just inside the treeline, and an enlarged clearing nearby that easily housed the Z-95 Headhunter and an old saucer-shaped freighter. On the other side of the clearing, away from the starships, there was a corral that had a dozen grazing animals. These creatures had been found, tamed, and trained, and now they were just waiting for the two who did all that to finally transport them to a settlement to be sold off.

The morning air was crisp and warm, clouds hung low in the sky. The landscape was soggy and wet from last night's heavy rains. As the air rapidly warmed with the onset of day, steam and a thick mist began wafting up into the air. This gave the forested area a sense of a complacency, with few creatures desiring to awaken and begin their days. The birds, unburdened with the struggles of the earthbound animals, chirped and cawed in greeting the day's first light. Far off in the distance, a large alpha herbivore trumped a command to its herd to rise. It was a peaceful setting, natural and content with its state of being.

Thus, when it was abruptly shattered by a thunderous crash, the echoing sounds startled the surrounding lands into full wakefulness in an instant. The loud noise momentarily startled the grazing animals, but they quickly ignored it, having grown accustomed to it over the past few weeks.

Leaping mightily over the large pile of boulders that she'd thrown but which had been intercepted, a brunette preteen girl cried out in exertion as she spotted her opponent rushing up at her with the same intention. Blocking his leading kick with her shin, Leia used the momentum he'd given her to further power her punch as she lashed out at his chest. Though he was able to cross in his arms into a guard position, the impact of her fist still sent him careening backwards. With her brother still on the defensive, Leia's other hand shot forward and launched a powerful but narrow blast of telekinesis. Just as he was getting his legs back under him, her Force Push hit and penetrated his shields, knowing from long experience just where and how they were weak. The attack struck his ankle and knocked off his center of gravity. Luke landed heavily on the muddy ground below him, but as quickly able to roll to the side and pop back up to his feet, dodging Leia's follow up stomp as she landed where he had been.

As Leia was recovering her own footing and adjusting to the mud that her feet had sunk into, Luke spun around low, his leg lashing out and hitting her behind her own ankle. As her legs buckled, Luke hit her with his own Force Push, expertly punching through her own shields and sending her flying backwards. But with a grace and skill that Luke lacked and envied, she was able to right herself in midair and land somewhat haphazardly on the ground, sliding in the mud several meters before coming to a stop. Without wasting time, both siblings rushed forward, fists raised in preparation as they delved deeply into the Force.

Just as they were meters apart, a sharp warning through the Force reached them. Reacting instinctively, they altered their course, springing as far to the sides of where they'd have met as their powerful muscles would allow. It was a good thing too since in that exact spot a pair laser bolts struck. The impact of the high-powered lasers kicked up a respectable concussive force and a small dust cloud of steam, dirt, and pebbles. But thanks to their fast reflexes, both Skywalker siblings were safely away from the area and turned to face where the attack came from.

"What's the big idea, Sparky?!" Leia called out, quite upset. She was just about to get the upper hand and finally take down Luke! "I had him on the ropes! What did I tell you about interrupting us?!"

"Not to do so," came the synthetic voice of a droid from a set of external speakers. "But this was the most expedient way to get your attentions."

"Why?" Luke asked, looking up at the humanoid droid who was visible through the window glass of the freighter. "What's happened?"

"We've got a job that might interest you two," Sparky answered. "And you better hurry, Tes'chi is likely about to accept the mission regardless of your choice."

"We're coming!" the two 12-year-olds cried out simultaneously, sprinting for the ramp to the YT-1250. Quickly boarding it, they hurried to the cockpit where they found their friend and droid already waiting for them.

Sparky was a combat type of humanoid droid, an old assassin model reprogrammed for security and defense. Though its armor was dented, the faded red and gold paint chipping off in places, and the overall frame of the droid was notably archaic-looking from its indistinguishable age, there was no mistaking the fact that the aforementioned combat droid's CPU was top-notch and quite lethal when the droid decided to engage it. A year ago, the two children had found his chassis when they were visiting Taris, apparently the droid had been ambushed by bounty hunters who were hunting its client, critically damaging it. Taking pity on the droid, the two had brought it back to the ship, repaired and reactivated it. Despite its gratitude, the droid had immediately departed to return to its client, only to return later that day claiming it had failed its primary programming and offer its services to them in repayment for repairing it.

Seated in the pilot's chair just in front of the droid was a blue-skinned Pantoran young woman, wearing a rough sewn shirt and pants with a simple tiara in her light purple hair. Taken as a toddler from her parents during a pirate attack on their vessel, Tes'chi was a 15-year-old slave to a black market arms dealer that the Skywalkers had been hunting when they first met her. Against Tes'chi's expectations, the two children had managed to unearth incriminating evidence of fraud, money-lauding, murder, theft, and blackmail against her master which quickly caused several of the dealer's former clients and associates (several none-too-pleased Hutts being among that number) to post a substantial bounty on his head, which the children had managed to collect a week later after capturing her former master. Following her release from enslavement, Tes'chi had immediately volunteered to become the children's chaperon, servant, and handyman, more or less voluntarily becoming their 'slave' in all but fact and name. When asked later, Tes'chi had simply said, ' _It's the only life I've ever known and I owe you two a great debt_.' That was three years ago and the young Pantoran woman had more than earned her keep since then.

"What mission?" Luke asked pointedly once he and Leia had arrived.

"Who's the client?" Leia demanded a split second later.

" _Aw, there's the two miracle workers!_ " came a voice from the holo-comm as Tes'chi and Sparky turned to greet them. By doing so, the Skywalkers spotted a semi-familiar figure of a well-dressed bureaucratic Toydarian seated in some obnoxiously large throne-like chair.

"Lonnvy," the two said, sharing an identical look of resigned annoyance.

" _Now, now, is that anyway to greet someone who's about to offer you a job?_ " Lonnvy asked, sneering at their tones. He always enjoyed working with these children and their little 'crew' of mishaps and rejects. They always brought in good money for him, inadvertently of course.

"Only when it's _you_ who's offering," Luke stated, turning away to sulk. He hated dealing with Lonnvy, a merchant and con-artist who dabbled in many different fields to make a quick and easy credit, usually by mooching off the hard work of others. The only reason he personally put up with the Toydarian at all is because one of his biggest areas of expertise was in intergalactic shipping and cargo. He was able to tell them what was going where and when. And thanks to his other 'contacts', these shipments he came to them with were always the most susceptible to be hijacked by brigands and pirates.

"How may we be of service this time, Lonnvy?" Leia asked in an almost pleasant voice, ever the diplomat her foster parents wanted her to be. As such, she was usually the one in charge of dealing with their 'clients' when it came to missions.

Chuckling loudly, Lonnvy nodded towards the female Skywalker as his fingers tapped a few buttons on the console in his throne's armrest. His image was replaced with that of a long convoy of parked transport vehicles, clearly only speeders since they had only light armor and no large engines. At just a glance, Leia could count easily two major haulers and six escort speeders armed with some light blaster cannons and a guard of fifty mercenaries.

" _This was brought to my attention about six hours ago_ ," Lonnvy said, his tone of voice implying that he was now in his 'professional' mindset. " _A recent shipment of foodstuffs and medical supplies has been ordered for Coruscant. The shipment is being massed together and loaded upon a series of transports on Cerea. Word has spread that Cerean foodstuffs are all the rage there these days apparently_." The four listeners could practically hear the indifferent shrug that the Toydarian made with that final statement, and it was a sentiment all of them could relate to, unable to understand or care about the whims of high society in the Core Worlds. " _This particular convoy is said to be carrying a considerably amount of unique fruits and vegetables that are in high demand. But the convoy itself has been held up by sudden severe weather conditions_."

"How much of a profit are we talking about for this particular convoy, Lonnvy?" Leia asked.

" _Latest estimate is about three million_ ," Lonnvy said, causing his audience to all flinch and gawk at the obscenely high number.

"With a value that high, pirate attacks are a guaranteed thing," Sparky stated with utmost certainty.

" _Indeed_ ," Lonnvy agreed easily. " _But the same weather problems that are stopping the convoy from leaving are also preventing any pirates from landing_."

"Must be lightning storms," Luke commented quietly.

" _The most current estimate is that these storms will be lasting for at least another three to five days, at minimum_ ," Lonnvy continued. " _And this is where your mission starts_."

"You want us to steal you some of the cargo, don't you?" Leia guessed knowingly. Even after doing this type of business for two years now, she still hated having to do it. But it was usually for a good cause, if she had anything to say about it.

" _But of course!_ " Lonnvy acknowledged. " _I figure we could handle this our usual way, 30-70 sounds fair_."

"10-90," Leia countered immediately. "A target this valuable is going to draw bloodsuckers to it faster than a fresh carcass. Unless the convoy has got some serious armed escort ships and frigates, the danger level is going to be very, very high for us."

" _25-75_ ," Lonnvy stated. " _While you might be right on that, I'm also in danger in my own way. I will of course be feeding you up-to-date intel on the situation as it progresses. Such attention to such things have a tendency to draw unwanted attentions from elsewhere to you. I need a worthwhile share to compensate for that. Besides, I know you kids. You're going to donate your share to charity anyway_."

"20-80, final offer," Leia said, crossing her arms and setting her expression in stone, making herself as immovable as possible.

There was a long pause as Lonnvy considered the bargain. Then, finally, as his image reappeared before them, he nodded in agreement, " _Deal. You can leave my share in the usual storehouse on Denon_." With that said, he abruptly disconnected the transmission, leaving the four of them sitting in silence for a moment.

"Well, you heard it," Luke said, moving forward and gently nudging Tes'chi out of the pilot's seat. "I'll begin the takeoff procedures. You guys go get ready for departure."

"Yes, master," Sparky acknowledged, turning sharply around and marching towards its personal area in the secondary cargo hold of the ship. The two girls followed the droid out with only quiet conversation between them as Luke started flipping switches and checking gauges.

* * *

 **Mustafar, secret Sith facility**

Dropping the unconscious body onto the hospital bed, the Fifth Hunter let out a sigh of relief. That was the _last_ one, _finally!_ He wasn't one to complain about any particular task he'd been assigned to by his master, but this most recent one had been mind-shatteringly _**dull**_ in his humble opinion. Things had gone all that well for him since his arrival in the past. Not since he'd lost the trail of those two Children of the Force he'd come to the past with. This fact had placed an irreparable blemish on his record to his master, something he knew that would be forever used to gauge his skills against and to decide whether he was worthy of performing certain missions. Ever since that tragic loss, he'd largely be delegated to kidnappings, backroom black market enforcer roles, and the very occasional assassination, with most of his time being used to recruit other known Force-sensitive children into what would become the Inquisitorius.

Only that one failure against the original two Children stained his track record now. For whatever consolation it was worth, the fact that the two had so thoroughly disappeared from common Force sensing was something of a relief. Somehow, over the months and years, it seemed that the two Children had learned how to hide their presences from other Force-users or they had become so deeply immersed in the Force's ebb and flow that they no longer registered among the common Force-users unless they were doing something very active. These were the only explanations that the Hunter and even his Master, who had routinely sought to locate the two of them over the years, could come up with. And the fact that the Jedi hadn't been making any overt activities or strange movements left Sidious convinced that the High Council had also been unable to locate and/or recruit them as well.

The Fifth Hunter had hoped that his master's present self would've had more fitting uses for a warrior and hunter of his skills and talents, but it seemed that his master wanted to error on the side of caution for now or at least until the Clone Wars started. If nothing else, his time spent in present era had greatly enlightened him to all the backdoor deals and subterfuge that his master had had to deal in the years prior to the Empire. The sheer scope of what needed to be done, how much was ready, and how much had yet to be done or occur, all this caused his bone deep respect and fear of his master to deepen ever more as the years passed.

Turning to the nearby medical droid that had just wheeled up to him, he snapped out, "The last of the batch. See to it that it's raised in accordance with the master's wishes."

"Of course," the droid said agreeably. "That is my primary programming, sir."

The Hunter didn't even spare the unconscious form of the Duros child another glance as he turned and marched purposely out of the infirmary. With his mission now complete, he reached down and sent the pre-prepared message to his master along the secret com-line they'd made to communicate more easily. If he was lucky, he'd get a reply from his master in an hour's time. If not, well, he needed to catch up on his forms and techniques some more. With the Clone Wars just a short year away from breaking out and the situation of the galaxy becoming increasingly more dangerous, it was always a good idea to dedicate a few hundred extra hours to sharpening and boosting his combat skills.

Walking outside of the facility, he walked out to the spare landing platform which was empty. Standing in the center of it, he closed his eyes and opened himself up to the dark side of the Force. Its power was extremely strong here on the volcanic world, as it should be. The Sith and dark siders of past and present had always used this planet. No amount of feeble Jedi tricks could possibly purge its delicious dark taint from the world. And the fact that the planet had such an enormous abundance of ores ready to mine and refine had made this world one of immense value to the Empire and the Emperor's dark acolytes. It did not surprise the Hunter in one bit to learn that his master had been using it for decades prior to the Empire's creation.

Drawing in the dark side once again, he could feel it filling him up. It fanned the flames of anger that his fears had ignited. Then it turned those flames into a lava-hot substance of pure rage. With that immense rage came a tremendous boost in his power in the Force. Unclipping his lightsaber, the Hunter entered the opening stances of Form V: Djem So, his preferred form. Protected from the poisonous fumes and ashes of the volatile world only by the ray shield around the landing platform, he threw himself into his training regime with a savage gusto.

After a lengthy time of two and a half hours, the chime of his comlink aroused him from the singular focus that his training had drawn him into. Switching off his weapon and breathing heavily, only just now realizing that he may have overdone it again, he hurried over to where he'd stowed his comlink. Activating it and quickly kneeling down with his head bowed, the Hunter said, "My master?"

" _You have finished your assignment, much sooner than I'd anticipated_." There was a definite note of… _something_ in Sidious's voice when he said that. Whether it was respect, annoyance, or pride in the Hunter's expedient ways was debatable though.

"I am a hunter, my master," the sweating Twi'lek stated softly. "To locate and capture or kill my prey is what I was born to do."

" _And do it well, you do indeed_ ," Sidious acknowledged shortly. " _I have a new assignment for you, my old friend_."

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

" _There has been an interference in the_ _ **special**_ _financial system_ ," Sidious said, the deep frown marring his wrinkled face clearly visible despite the cloak's hood over his face. " _Someone is investigating the funds for the Clone Army. Go to Eriadu, find the slicer, and_ _**deal with it**_."

"It shall be done, my master," the Hunter answered automatically, his voice cold and unwavering. But when Sidious's hologram faded and the Twi'lek raised his head, there was an obvious expression of disgruntled annoyance on his face. "Another useless errand. When will I have a _real_ hunt again?!"

* * *

 **12:9:18 GrS  
Cerea**

There was a natural beauty to the world he found himself on that was hard to dismiss or compare. While Alderaan certainly was a fair competitor in that regard, the Core World had a bit more civilized and cultivated flair to it while Cerea seemed more…cherished and natural. The Force was alive and practically singing, unlike a majority of the other worlds he'd visited. To this end, the lone Jedi Padawan found himself in a rather peculiar predicament. The incredible beauty and liveliness of the world was drawing him into a state of calmness and serenity that was quite unnatural for him. Yet, paradoxically, it also pulled at his being, drawing him outside, tempting him to go and do something.

So when his Master turned to him with an all-too-familiar sigh of exasperation at his restlessness, the 17-year-old Anakin Skywalker could only offer up a weak apology.

"Anakin, try to focus on the mission," Obi-wan said, knowing his order was likely to fall on deaf ears.

"I'm deeply sorry, Master," Anakin said, sounding not at all sincere as he glanced to the ground.

"Don't worry, kid," Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, their partner for this mission, grunted out from where he stood with Obi-wan. "You'll have something to do before this is over."

The three Jedi stood to the side of the loading bay, watching as the droids and facility personnel were stacking the last of the exotic food containers into the transports. Under normal circumstances, such a routine mission would've been beneath the attentions of the Jedi Order. Why should a bunch of peace-keeping monks interfere with a simple transport of foods from the Outer Rim to Coruscant? But, in a show of 'diplomatic discussions' with certain key members of the Senate and wealthy business owners, the Jedi Council had been essentially guilted into aiding in the mission.

Granted, even though it stung at his pride, Anakin could understand why Jedi were preferable enforcers and bodyguards. A cargo worth three million credits? If that didn't draw trouble from the scum of the galaxy, he didn't know what would. He wasn't sure why he and Obi-wan had been selected for this mission though. Master Vos made sense because of his familiarity with the criminal underworld.

Seeing the last container finally get loaded and secured into place, Anakin let out a sigh of relief. Finally, they could get a move on!

"Alright, that's it," Obi-wan confirmed before turning to his apprentice. "Anakin, you ride in the rear transport. I'll be in the front. Remember to keep your comlink channel open."

Despite himself, Anakin couldn't help looking at his Master in slight surprise as he realized what the older man must've been thinking. "You think that pirates or bandits are already going to attack?"

Obi-wan gave him a look of contemplation. "Possibly. From here to the landing pad is still a good fifty kilometers distance, and most of it over rugged mountains. An ideal place to set up an ambush."

It was true. On most other planets, the food processing facility would've had its own designated spaceport for its transports within a five-minute ride's distance, if not built into the facility itself. But the planet of Cerea was different in that its inhabitants were all very self-conscious about keeping their beautiful world as clean and natural as possible. Thus, it had _extremely_ strict emission laws on incoming freighters and spaceships, as well as very harsh punishments for pollution committed. As such, the team of transports had to travel a rather considerable distance to reach the port.

Despite this, Anakin wasn't convinced. "That may be true, master. But no ship would be able to enter the mountains undetected, if not by us then by the Cerean government. Plus, they would first have to enter the atmosphere and the Cereans keep a close watch over all ships who enter the system, let alone the atmosphere."

"Enough!" Master Vos snapped as he returned, having walked away to inspect one of the containers before the transport was shut and locked. "I agree with Master Kenobi. We cannot for a moment assume that the pirates aren't already here and preparing to strike. You two will guard to the two transports individually while I ride in one of the escort speeders. And that's that."

"Yes, Master," both Obi-wan and Anakin said, nodding their heads submissively to the senior Jedi. They parted ways shortly afterwards, heading to their designated stations.

As he was walking aboard the transport, Anakin felt…something. A gentle caress in the Force, almost like someone was reaching out and lightly running their hand down his spine. The sensation caused him to stiffen momentarily before spinning around, searching with both his eyes and the Force for the source of the strange feeling. But in the split second he'd sensed it, the sensation had already vanished, as though yanked away from a scorching white-hot iron. Seeing nothing suspicious, Anakin's scowl deepened. Something…Some _one_ was out there and they were watching him.

Maybe Master Kenobi was right…?

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) This here is my sort of gift to all of you unlucky _Star Wars_ fans who, like me, are unlikely to be able to watch the premiere of  Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens tomorrow. If there are typos, I apologise. It's because I typed this up in a hurry to get it out today.

And so begins the second arc of the story!


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 07_

 **12:9:18 GrS  
Cerea**

Piloting the _Dandy Eagle_ alone would've been extremely difficult for most people, and practically impossible in the midst of combat, because it was designed for two people to fly it together. Thankfully, with the Force guiding him and his own natural skill, Luke was able to easily circumvent that minor handicap.

"Tes'chi, we're entering the mountains now," Luke said over the intercom. "I'm engaging the scanner scrambler."

" _I'm at the forward loading bay and holding tight_ ," Tes'chi answered, anxiety clear in her voice. " _Please warn me if you have to do anything_ _ **drastic**_ _again_."

"I will," Luke promised, smiling despite himself. There had been numerous times in the past where he had to pull frantic maneuvers to escape or dodge when someone hadn't been properly buckled down.

Shaking his head, he flipped a few switches and a green light lit up on the console before him as the scanner scrambler was activated. The scrambler was an invention that Tes'chi had developed shortly after she joined their crew and gotten a few firsthand experiences of what they did for a living. It had come as a real surprise to the twins that she was a naturally talented programmer and knew her way around software like Luke knew mechanics and Leia knew diplomacy. With the ability to hide the _Dandy Eagle_ 's IFF signal and don a false one, the scrambler had come in real handy really quickly afterwards. But, when combined with the new armor plating that they had recently added, it made the freighter practically invisible to most standard scanners and sensors.

Flying low and guiding the _Eagle_ through the rugged mountains, Luke kept the engines powered low and was flying as much on the repulsors as he was on the engines. Up ahead, he could sense the collection of the transports and escort vehicles were underway. Even without Leia's confirmation, Luke would've known this because the three Jedi that were accompanying them stood out like a trio of lighthouses in moonless night. They had only discovered this after they'd already landed upon Cerea two hours ago and had developed a functioning plan. The Jedi escort was a surprise that demanded adjustments to the plan, but they were not a crippling blow. They had sensed the presence of an especially powerfully Jedi and had been worried that it might've been one of the Jedi High Council who had gotten personally involved with the mission. That would've been very bad if true.

" _Eagle_ to Stormbird," Luke said into the comm. "Approaching the pickup zone in two minutes. How's your end holding up?"

" _Targets approaching waypoint_ ," Sparky answered. " _Songbird is in position. Beginning boarding actions in thirty seconds_."

"Roger that," Luke said, smiling tightly as he gently weaved the freighter around another mountain cliff flying for the designated area. "Good luck and may the Force be with you. _Eagle_ out."

* * *

Seated up on a high cliff overlooking a fork in the mountain road, Leia Skywalker waited with bated breath. She could see the convoy of transports approaching their trap. Normally, Leia would've been bouncing with excitement and anticipation for the coming confrontation. It was something that had caught Leia by surprise the first few times it'd happened. Leia had found that she was an adrenaline junkie every bit as much as her brother. But where he preferred to fight from the cockpit of a starfighter, she was much more confrontational. Yet with the presences of three Jedi, she fought to keep her own impulses and presence as thoroughly masked and shielded as possible.

Her part of the plan was both simple and difficult. When Sparky got control of the transport and took the path off the convoy's route, she had to trigger a landslide to block the road and prevent the convoy or escorts from backing up and rushing to regain control of the lost vehicle. That was the easy part. The hard part was timing the avalanche to block the road without accidentally causing any significant injuries or death. If she did it too soon, she might bury the convoy and likely kill many of the innocent guards or allow them to realize what was happening and regroup. If she did it too late, they'd still try to regroup and call in the Cerean authorities. The trick was to time it so that the convoy would believe that the last transport was buried under the landslide when it really was driving off down the other side of the mountain trail.

Delving into the Force, Leia sought its calming effects. After years of practice, she connected to it with relative ease. The calming power soothed her nerves and encouraged her confidence. She could do this. As far as missions went, this was a milk run. And while the Jedi had the potential to screw it up, there was no denying that they still probably would be caught by surprise when it happened and could only react to it so quickly. Once she was suitably calmed, Leia again turned her attention to the convoy.

With the Force augmenting her perception, she sought out the three Jedi that Sparky had reported seeing. Unlike last time, she didn't try to reach out to them to get a measure of their powers. The youngest and strongest of the trio had somehow sensed her presence last time and it had likely spooked him. And, indeed, she could sense a heightened level of caution and alertness from him, more so than the other two. The Jedi had used the tactic of divide and conquer well, not one of the convoy transports was more heavily defended and the third Jedi could easily rush the aide of either one if necessary. With the Force sending images into her mind, Leia glimpsed the three Jedi in her mind's eye. The bearded one sitting calmly in the cockpit of the front transport, immersed in the Force for clarity and forewarning. The dark-haired, grim-faced Jedi in the speeder constantly looking, constantly surveying the landscape, seeking potential ambush locations and improvised explosive devices. And the youngest Jedi stalking the cargo bay of his transport, lightsaber almost in hand as he turned corners around the pallets of cargo.

" _Stormbird to Songbird, beginning operation_ ," Sparky commed to her.

Swerving her binoculars to the cockpit of the transport, she glimpsed the droid pulling itself up from where it'd been magnetically clamped to the transport's undercarriage, opening the door and almost casually pulling the startled driver out of his seat. With swift, mechanical ease, the droid pulled itself up into the cockpit and closed the door. It had happened so quickly that if she hadn't been paying attention, she'd have missed the switch occur. Almost immediately she could see him working the controls and computer of the transport, changing its location and preparing the autopilot.

"I see you, Stormbird," Leia acknowledged. "Be advised, there's a Jedi Padawan in the cargo bay and he's very jumpy."

" _Understood_ ," Sparky said, already bringing up the interior security footage to watch as the aforementioned Jedi prowled the cargo bay.

By now, the convoy had almost reached her position at the crossroad. Drawing in the Force, Leia reached out gently. She grasped ahold of numerous large boulders and dirt, sensing the natural cracks and faults that each possessed, and applying pressure to each one in calculated bursts. With the Force as her guide, she watched as the building avalanche began to take shape. She knew the precise moment that the convoy discovered the impending avalanche. It was the Jedi who'd noticed it first, sensing mounting danger ahead and above. But it was too late for the convoy to stop or swerve to the side, so they could only gun the throttle and hope for the best.

As that was happening, Sparky leaned out of the pilot's seat and aimed one of its blaster rifles at the escort speeder that had pulled up and was flying alongside it. One shot at the power generator sent the vehicle into a sliding crash to the side. Even as it was doing that, the transport suddenly swung to side onto the crossroad like was planned. Watching carefully, Leia could see that none of the convoy or escorts seemed to have noticed the transport's detour, too busy as they were trying to outrun the avalanche. Not even the Jedi could spare the time to notice, too busy using the Force to deflect or redirect the falling boulders and dirt.

Grinning widely, Leia quickly bounced to her feet, stuffing her binoculars into her satchel as she turned and gave a mighty jump. Flying gracefully through the air, she landed upon a lower rock outcropping. Below her not even twenty meters was the commandeered transport. Grinning widely as she glimpsed the upper hatch from the cargo hold suddenly opening from within, she gave another leap for the transport. "Sparky, you've got incoming! I'll deal with it. You focus on driving."

" _Acknowledged_."

As the Padawan was pulling himself upon the transport roof with a glaring scowl on his face, Leia landed heavily just behind him. The loud thump of her arrival clearly caught the Jedi by surprise since he hadn't sensed her approach. He spun around, lightsaber igniting and swinging even as he was turning. If Leia hadn't landed in a deep crouch, she'd have lost her head. As it were, her flapping braids and ponytail did lose a few inches, though she didn't notice. As the Padawan was recoiling in surprise, Leia launched herself up and forward, her arm cocked back. She barreled in him into like an ore-freighter, her small but strong fist burying itself into his stomach and knocking him backwards with a loud gasp of pain and surprise.

To the young man's credit, he didn't stay down for more than a second, rolling and popping back up to his feet again. His scowl was deeper now, much more menacing. Leia had to admit that she probably would've been ver intimidated by him if she hadn't already landed the first punch.

But his fury was quickly replaced by surprise and even a bit of contempt. "A girl?" he said loudly, having to almost yell over the mountain winds so that she could hear him. "A little girl is responsible for this chaos?"

"Got a problem with that, big boy?!" Leia snapped angrily, her own aggression spiking at his almost dismissive tone.

Without letting him answer, she attacked with all the speed she could manage. Her burst of speed caught the Padawan by surprise, but not enough to catch him off guard. He brought his lightsaber up in a defensive stance, trying to ward her off. Instead, she slipped low, sliding along the roof as her foot lashed out and caught his own. His footing disrupted, Leia bounced up and threw a Force-empowered punch for his side. Rather than try to take the blow, the Padawan let his bad footing give way, allowing him to dodge her uppercut. But even as he fell and she leapt, he swung his saber for a disabling strike at her knees.

To his surprise, she was able to yank her legs and torso up at an almost impossible angle before the blazing blade was even close enough. Then, aided by the Force, she reversed her momentum and swung her body forward, snapping out a double kick at his face and hitting him with remarkable strength. The blow sent him tumbling backwards and careening off the side of the transport, his lightsaber knocked from his grasp in the process.

"Amateur," Leia said cockily as she landed lightly on her feet. Turning, she grabbed her comlink with one hand while she used her other to gesture towards the roof the transport ahead of her. "Stormbird, the Padawan has been dealt with. Proceeding to the next phase. Get up here!" As she was speaking, the transport roof suddenly contorted violently. With a terrible screeching shriek, the roof was torn open and exposed the many pallets and cargo containers within.

" _Acknowledged, engaging autopilot_ ," Sparky responded.

" _ **What**_ _are you_ _ **doing**_ _?!_ " a loud voice yelled from the side. Leia turned in surprise to see the Padawan. He was hanging for dear life on the side of the transport, only now visible because she'd yanked the roof of the transport off. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have his lightsaber in hand but his dark glare was back.

"Wow, you're a persistent one," Leia said, grinning childishly down at him.

The young man's scowl deepened as he reached towards her. Leia felt the Force grasp ahold of her and start to yank her towards him. Quickly digging her feet in, she crossed her arms as she drew in her own power and then expelled it with a strong flex. His grip on her vanished with that expulsion. She used his momentary surprise to her advantage, reaching out and wrenching the section of the transport he clung to, swinging it outwards so that he hung over the steep drop of the cliff, the valley floor several hundred meters below. ' _That outta give him something to think about!_ '

"Okay, this is the part of the plan I don't trust," Sparky said as it pulled itself up onto the roof near her.

"It was your idea," Leia pointed out as she again turned back to her work of tearing apart the roof and front section of the transport. Glancing up briefly, she smiled as she saw both the approaching _Dandy Eagle_ up ahead of them, the cargo compartments mounted atop of its frame opening as it neared them. And the approaching cliff that the transport was racing towards unerringly.

"Yes, but I don't like how much you kids rely on your magic Force powers!" Sparky said as he dropped down into the now open cargo bay, landing upon one of the containers.

"Have a little faith in us and trust in the Force!" Leia barked as she prepared herself for a jump.

"I do trust you," Sparky called back as he crouched down and magnetically locked himself tightly to the container he was on. "If I didn't, I would be locking myself to a container right now!"

Before Leia could make a remark on that, the transport suddenly lurched forward into a steep nosedive. With a mighty leap, Leia leapt free of the transport as it drove off the edge. Turning in midair, she reached out and grasped ahold of the many containers within the transport, yanking them out of the transport before it could fall more than several meters. Focusing intensely, she carefully aligned the containers into specific groups and guided them towards where she could sense Luke was flying the _Eagle_ towards them all. With the grace of long practice, the numerous containers landed, albeit rather roughly, into the various cargo containers on the _Dandy Eagle_. Several of them formed into a narrow line that was scooped up into the open forward airlock. Guided by the Force and knowledge of the ship's layout, Leia was easily able to redirect the containers into the two forward cargo holds inside and even stacked a few up along the hallway.

Sparky quickly detached himself from the container he was on after it landed and walked along the top of the _Dandy Eagle_ for the upper airlock. Leia herself had landed in a deep crouch just above the forward airlock, having to brace and strengthen herself in the Force as she hit the ship. It was an extremely jarring impact that would've easily pulverized the bodies of any other being, whether they were Force-trained or not. But with her long years of physical training on Caridad combined with Force-augmented strength, it was merely painful, not bone-shattering.

Standing up once her body had adjusted, she dropped into the airlock. Behind her, Tes'chi quickly closed and locked the airlock, cutting off the strong winds instantly. With a heavy sigh, Leia collapsed exhaustedly against the nearest container, panting heavily.

"You okay?" Tes'chi asked, rushing to her side immediately and starting a basic medical examination.

"F-Fine," Leia said, waving her hand dismissively. "Just tired."

"I'll be the judge of that," Tes'chi said, lowering the Skywalker's hand. "Now tell me what hurts and where."

Despite herself, Leia smiled up at the pretty Pantoran.

* * *

Picking himself up from he'd landed, Anakin held his throbbing stomach tentatively, gasping for a breath. Landing in the valley had been an exercise of simplicity for him, but he'd landed on loose gravel and sand, which caused him to belly-flop painfully and compounded his earlier injury. Farther up ahead of him, he watched as the transport he'd been assigned to protect finally came to a rolling stop, little more than a smashed bundle of twisted metals and leaking motor fluids. Looking upwards, he watched as the freighter blasted up into the atmosphere and quickly vanished from sight.

"That girl… Who was she?" he muttered to himself, conflicted.

During their fight, he'd sensed her power, briefly. She was very good at masking her presence and intentions from the Force. Yet she had to lower her mental guards briefly whenever she went on the attack, boosting her strength and speed. If he had to guess, she was probably on the level of a very high-tier Padawan in terms of her body augmentation. But her fighting style is what really caught him by surprise. She used her fists and feet, something he was rather familiar with fighting against. Yet she also had used the Force to add power to her blows. When she'd hit him with that kick to the face, he'd sensed a burst of Force power at the same instant, not at all that different from a simple push. But her raw power…

He'd sensed it when she broke free of his grasp. She had caught him by surprise when it happened and he really hadn't been trying that hard to hold her in place. But she'd still managed to overpower and repel his hold on her. To his experience, only high-tier Jedi Masters were ever able to overpower him like that. _How_ could she do that? Who'd _trained_ her? _Where_ has she been all this time? _Why_ wasn't she in the Jedi Order?! Such a powerful and talented girl like that should've been known by the masters and sought out almost _immediately_! These questions and many more were plaguing his mind.

Sighing heavily, he looked up as he heard the approach of a speeder from above him. It was Master Vos he saw leaning out over the speeder's side to watch him.

"Come on, kid!" Vos called when he was close enough, waving him upwards.

With a mighty jump, Anakin flew through the air. Landing gingerly on the speeder's rear, near the engines, he carefully slid down into the backseat. As he did, Vos turned around and held out his dropped lightsaber. Though he didn't say anything or scold him for dropping his weapon like Obi-wan would've, the look in his eye said all of it. Sighing again at the silent reprimand, Anakin took his saber and clipped it back to his belt.

"What happened? Who was it?" Vos demanded as the speeder turned and raced back towards the convoy.

"A droid, a young girl, and a YT-series freighter," Anakin answered. "I fought the girl. She's a Force-sensitive and very powerful. She caught me by surprise before driving the transport off the cliff and the freighter grabbed them and the cargo as it flew by."

Turning back, Vos eyed the young man critically with a raised brow. Despite himself, a snort of amusement and a grin escaped him as he turned back to flying. "Impressive plan," he said, sounding grudgingly approving. "Not many could've pulled this heist off so easily."

"I think they've done this _many_ times before," Anakin said, scowling again. "They seemed to have timed it too _perfectly_ , done it too _easily,_ for this to have been the first time."

"You're probably right," Vos agreed. "But don't worry. They won't get far."

"How?" Anakin demanded, turning an unhappy glance at the man. "They're already flying out of atmo and will likely be in lightspeed long before the Cerean government will be ready to respond. And the girl was able to hide her presence in the Force from me. We'll never find them."

"Not with the Force," Vos nodded agreeably. Then he reached down into his belt and held out a datapad to the Padawan, showing him what was on the screen. "But with the tracking beacon I'd planted in one of the cargo containers, we will."

"Tracking beacon?" Anakin repeated, surprised by the Master's forethought as he watched the data scroll down the screen. "How did you know to do that? _When_ did you do that?"

"When you and Obi-wan were arguing before the convoy left," Vos answered, grinning. "And I suspected we'd lose at least _some_ of the cargo. There's too much scum in the galaxy for us to not run into it. Always be prepared for the unexpected and unlikely."

Impressed despite himself, Anakin nodded. ' _When we find them again, I'll get my answers, little girl._ '

* * *

 **12:9:19 GrS**  
 **Eriadu**

With a gasp, a white-haired man was jolted awake. Groaning as a waves of pain assaulted his mind, the man tried to move and caress the areas of his body that were in agony. In doing so, he discovered that he was strapped tightly to what basically amounted as a torture chair. Opening his eyes blearily, he squinted through the darkness of the room he was in. The air was cold and the darkness only broken by the soft red glows of various instruments that were scattered throughout the chamber. Moving one of his arms, the man looked down towards, trying to gauge how much give the restraint had. Sadly, he could scarcely move it even an inch before the cold metal and leather straps starting biting into his soft, weak flesh.

"Don't struggle," a deep, menacing voice said from the darkness ahead of him. "It's useless to try."

"Who are you?" the man demanded, trying to hide his fear and pain behind a façade of righteous anger. "Where am I?! Do you have _any idea how m—?!_ " He was silenced immediately when his head was slammed back against the headrest and his throat was pinched shut by an invisible force. His façade now abandoned, he struggled against whatever was holding him, futilely trying to gasp for a breath.

"You are not in a position to be demanding answers," the voice said dangerously. Through the darkness, a dark silhouette could be faintly seen moving closer, an arm held outstretched towards the quickly choking prisoner. "Now, I want to make something _very_ clear to you. I have been having a very _bad_ couple of days. If you do not give me what I want, quickly, I will must assuredly _enjoy_ venting my frustrations on _you_."

A blade of red light suddenly sprung to life a short distance between them, illuminating the old man and the menacing white Twi'lek who was holding him captive. The old man easily recognized what kind of weapon that the Twi'lek was holding in his hand. The red color was different from most of the other blades he'd seen throughout his life, but given the environment he was in and the one holding it and him in his grasp, the old man knew all-too-well just how much danger he was in. He nodded his head franticly in agreement. Sensing the old man's acquiescence, the Twi'lek released his hold of the man's throat, allowing him to gasp in a few much needed breaths.

"Now, you recently found several financial reports that you were not authorized to view," the Twi'lek said, cutting straight to the chase. "You even made a few illegal data copies of the information."

"You mean those…redirected credits to…Kaut Drive Yards?" the man asked, confused. "What does it matter?"

"Where did you hide the data?" the Twi'lek said, stalking around the chair. "If you answer now, truthfully, I will release you."

"Why do you want the data?" the old man asked, trying to stall as he tried to find a way to talk his way out of it. "It's just a series of redirected data loops through a bunch of dummy companies. What could be so dangerous or desirable about that?"

"Do not test my patience," the Twi'lek growled menacingly as he circled around from the other side. "Or I will have to hurt you."

Staring at the armored Twi'lek with a calculating gleam, the man said, "Perhaps we can make a deal?"

Rather than answer, the Twi'lek's eyes gained a distinctive yellow shine as he reached his hand up towards the man's face. That invisible force jolted into him again, rocking him back into the headrest. Somehow, through a strange sense that he wasn't even aware he possessed, the man felt an invading presence insert itself into his mind. He could feel it rummaging through his memories, searching. The man fought, trying to repress or avoid the memory of where he'd hidden the data.

"Get out of my head!" the man cried, wincing and cringing in pain and mental anguish.

As a banker and financier by trade, the old man had always been wealthy. He had more money than most moderately wealthy second-class citizens had. He was also quite guilty of many illegal actions, including quite prominently money-lauding and profiteering. So when he'd accidentally found a data trail of redirected credits from a series of Republic taxes, he'd followed and copied the trail from start to finish and what he'd found was astonishing. Someone very high up in the Republic was essentially stealing money and using it to fund the creation of thousands, even tens of thousands, of military warships and vehicles, weaponry and armor, and other accessories. He had hoped to use this information to blackmail or bribe one of those involved into channeling him some of those credits, to keep him silent and not approach any of the rising Separatists Movement or Loyalist Senators, people who would care about what he'd found and what it implied.

But he was also clever enough to realize that holding onto such information by himself was too dangerous. So, he'd hidden a full copy of everything he'd found in— " _NOOOO!_ " the man shouted as he realized just what had happened.

"The data is in your droid," the Twi'lek said as he finally withdrew from the man's mind. "A C-unit astromech. How…quaint."

Panting, the old man raised his head to glare up at his interrogator. "You won't find it. I've been running and hiding from bounty hunters for days. Quirky knows to stay hidden until I call for it."

"Perhaps," the Twi'lek agreed. "But I also know where you've sent it and where it'll now go if it doesn't hear from you."

Frowning despite himself, the man's glare deepened. "So what do we do now?"

The Twi'lek's menacing scowl was all the warning he had before he raised his red lightsaber up and gave a powerful slash, chopping the old man and chair alike into pieces. Turning around and leaving the torture chamber without a backwards glance, the Fifth Hunter stalked towards his TIE Advanced. He'd leave the mess behind for someone else to find and deal with.

* * *

 **Takodana**

With a soft, almost unnoticeable thud, a white and blue YT-1250 freighter landed in a small clearing. As Luke was busy finishing up the landing sequence, Tes'chi eagerly rushed to the lowering boarding ramp and disembarked. Once she was out of the ship, she rushed to the edge of the nearby lake and stopped to stare, taking a deep and fulfilling breath of fresh air, relishing the serenity of the world around her.

"It is beautiful," Leia said as she approached her friend and 'guardian'. "I dare say it is almost as beautiful as Alderaan."

"Coming from you," Tes'chi said, turning to look at the young brunette. "That's quite a compliment."

Leia shrugged before she turned and started walking towards the large stone castle that was a short distance away. Taking one last appreciative glance at the lake, Tes'chi hurried after her young friend and 'master'. The feminine duo entered the rowdy casino castle casually, moving around the various smugglers, thugs, droids, and creatures carefully. Though the establishment was run by a fairly outgoing and respectable old woman, Leia and Tes'chi kept their hands very close to both their weapons and their pockets.

As they were nearing the bar, a loud voice suddenly cried out, " _Leia Skywalker!_ What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Ms. Kanata," Leia greeted easily, waving cheerfully up at the millennia-old, small orange woman. "How's business?"

"Just fine," Maz Kanata answered as she waved the duo up to the bar. "Come, come! Sit, tell me what I can do for you this time!"

Taking the offered seats across from the castle owner, Leia pulled out a datapad and slid it across the bar. "We could use a list of planets and settlements that are in need of these supplies we've come across recently."

After topping the mug she'd been filling and sliding it down the bar towards it's thirsty drinker, Maz took the datapad and surveyed the information it held. After a few moments of checking the inventory, she glanced up at Leia with a cocked brow. "Don't tell me you made a run at that convoy."

Leia and Tes'chi just nodded, sheepish grins spreading across their faces. Maz let out an overly dramatized sigh of aggravation as she slid the datapad back to the girl. "I swear, you kids are most reckless, hardheaded, and successful little pirates I've ever come across!"

"We're hardly pirates, Maz," Leia quipped, rolling her eyes. "Not when we don't sell the goods we acquire for a personal profit."

"Perhaps," Maz said, nodding. "But others, _especially_ the Republic's high society, won't see it like that."

"Then they're what we've always said they are," Tes'chi said quietly. "Willfully blind and deaf to those outside their little circles."

Maz just shrugged indifferently as she turned to leave. "I'll get you that list in just a few minutes. Hold tight, maybe try one of my famous cocktails?"

Outside, as Leia and Tes'chi were bartering with Maz, Luke and Sparky were checking over the _Dandy Eagle_. Luke was inspecting the engines and the coolant systems while Sparky was examining the different programs and systems. They made it habit to regularly examine and maintain the ship, to prevent anything bad from happening midway through a mission. With their attentions so focused on what they doing, neither of them noticed a battered and old C1-QR astromech droid quietly enter the ship and seek a hiding place in the cargo hold.

* * *

( **Author's Note** ) Sorry about the long wait. I was procrastinating with this chapter and suffering from a mild case of writer's block.

Here's some trivia! Who can guess just where I was inspired for this heist? Here's a hint: it was a movie released in June 2010.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm a Skywalker too!**  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
 _Chapter 08_

 **Hyperspace**

He was dreaming. And what he was dreaming was something that could not be put into words very easily. The dream was a confusing burst of random images, scattered and different, but all possessing an element of raw emotion and power behind them that helped him differentiate between them. In the beginning of his dream, the images were confusing but also so very terrifying; blood, pain, suffering, the deaths of tens of millions of people, the extinguishment of the Jedi and the light they heralded, and the onset of ever-deepening darkness and despair.

He watched as a colossal fire burst to life, consuming planets and systems all across the galaxy as white-armored soldiers led by Jedi fought against battle droids and bounty hunters. He watched as those same battle droids suddenly started changing into innocent civilians, with the white soldiers still shooting them down mercilessly. He watched as a black armored figure with a fear-inducing black mask began hunting down and killing many thousands of Jedi. He watched as a cloaked, wrinkled being sat upon a grand throne made of stars and planets alike, overlooking the construction of a massive moon that changed into an equally-massive battle station. He watched as a darkness spread outwards from this old man's throne of worlds, seeping out to cover the entire galaxy. He watched as small groups of people across the galaxy began banding together to resist the growing tide of darkness. And acting as a type of background noise to this entire series of images was a malicious laughter that invoked the purest sensation of evil he'd ever conceived of before, emitting from somewhere both near and far, as all-encompassing and pervasive as the black void that it was spreading.

And then, like a literal punch to the gut, everything _stopped_ in a blinding flash of light, rewound, _changed_. He watched again as the brunette girl punched him in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards. He watched as pirates attacked an old freighter in space before sweeping down to bomb a small settlement on a grassy plain. He watched as a young blonde boy rose up out of the plains, alone against a whole swarm of enemy starfighters, laughing in excitement the entire time as he flew and fought them. He watched as the brunette girl and blonde boy fought in almost synchronized concert against a hugely muscled white Twi'lek with a spinning red lightsaber. He watched as he, the two kids, and some group of other people stared up into the sky as deadly turbolaser fire started to rain down towards them. But it was the last image that jolted him awake, Padme Amidala standing nearby him as she too stared up at the turbolasers that were about to incinerate them.

"Padme!" Anakin gasped, sitting upright as his bedspread slid off his chest, his body glistening with sweat as his heart raced. Gasping and taking a few moments to collect himself, Anakin pulled himself up into a seated position.

Running his hands through his short hair, he tried to comprehend the startlingly clear and crisp images that were now seared into his brain. A lot of it was terrifying in what it implied. The Jedi Order destroyed and hunted to extinction, a massive war that ripped the galaxy apart, an evil man who was probably a Sith managing to take power in the chaos that ensued, and a dark enforcer who imposed the Sith's rule. But as dark as those images were, he found he wasn't all that concerned about them. The fact that there were sparks of rebellion against the ruling Sith and his probable empire of darkness was enough to ease Anakin's conscience that the people of the galaxy wouldn't submit to his rule so easily. No, it was the final images of his dream that was really bothering him.

He saw _Padme_ again, but she was in _great_ danger! There was a young boy out there now who must've been an extraordinary pilot to be able to go up against a swarm of enemies and laugh it off as if they were nothing. Granted, Anakin was confident he could've done the deed just as easily. But what did that say about this new boy if he could possibly do the same thing? Then there was the fact that it seemed that the girl and boy must've known each other and quite well if the images of their fighting together so well was anything to go by. What were they in regards to each other? Friends? Fellow apprentices of some unknown master? Maybe siblings?

So many questions with no clear answers. Sighing heavily, Anakin pulled himself into a relaxed seated position. After that dream, he had little doubt he'd be unable to get any further rest. Perhaps he should try following some of Obi-wan's likely advice and meditate on what he saw. Perhaps the Force could clarify a few of the images, feelings, and questions he was feeling? But if nothing else, meditating would help to at least partially calm him down.

Sighing again, he closed his eyes and immersed himself as deeply into the Force as he could venture.

* * *

 **12:9:20 GrS  
Takodana**

"Why would they come here?" Obi-wan wondered aloud as he stepped out of the ship he, his Padawan, and Master Vos were flying in. "Takodana is an out-of-the-way stop with no outstanding settlement or government. Certainly nowhere they could unload or sell any cargo."

"You're thinking too much like a merchant, Kenobi," Vos said as he led the trio down the dirt path. They had landed their ship in a relatively small clearing a short distance away from a large stone structure by a lake that the bearded Jedi had glimpsed on their descent and landing. "All those reasons are exactly why this is the perfect place to go first. Smugglers, lowlifes, bounty hunters, the scum of the galaxy gather in areas such as this."

Gesturing towards the large stone castle that had just come into view ahead of them, Vos continued, "As you know, the galaxy is full of watering holes, but nothing like this place. It's been run by an old smuggler named Maz Kanata for a thousand years. She dabbles in a lot of different businesses here, such as information brokering on where to unload illicit cargo for potential buyers. As Maz is the closest and most reliable, it makes sense."

Seeing the slightly uncertain and distracted looks that the youngest of them was giving the parked freighters on the other side of the lake, as well as the group of beings who were moving to and from the castle, Vos stopped and gently grabbed ahold of the young man's wondering hand for a second. "This establishment is not one to walk into holding a lightsaber. First impressions are important, especially for Maz."

Nodding despite the uncomfortable look he was wearing, Anakin moved his hand away from where it had been drifting towards his clipped lightsaber. Nodding, Vos started moving towards the castle again.

"I take it you've been here many times already," Obi-wan said as he moved up alongside his colleague.

"As I said, Maz does a fair amount of business in information dealing, she knows almost everything that's worth knowing in the Rimworlds," Vos said as they neared the entrance. "The most important thing here is to keep a low profile, stay under the radar. A lot of the scum here probably know and hate me for various reasons, so don't draw attention to yourselves in there. Also, Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't stare."

"At what?" Anakin and Obi-wan asked simultaneously.

"Any of it," Vos warned them as he opened the entrance and headed inside. Master and Apprentice shared a brief, confused glance for a split second before following after their companion.

Following the corridor to a sizable open hall of neatly finished stonework, the Jedi trio found a hodgepodge of humans, humanoids, and distinctly nonhumans engaged in what Anakin assumed were perpetual rounds of eating, drinking, gambling, scheming, negotiating, arguing, and occasionally attempting to split one another's livers or some equivalent organ open. Leading the way, Vos alternately shoved, requested, or cajoled assorted occupants of the hall out of their path until at last he halted.

The first impression Anakin had of Maz Kanata was that she was like a small, orange-skinned, goggles-wearing version of Jedi Master Yoda, just not as crippled by old age. She was dressed simply and practically: baggy dark maroon pants tucked into handmade boots and a vest of some charcoal gray material fitted over a teal sweater-like shirt with rolled up sleeves. But what really caught Anakin by surprise was that he could _feel_ her presence. She was Force-sensitive! Barely as strong as a first-year Jedi Initiate, if that, but enough to give him pause in surprise. It was a small wonder to him why she hadn't been recruited into the Jedi Order.

"QUINLIN VOS!" Maz cried out as she'd turned to face her Jedi visitors. Almost immediately, all activity in the hall came to an abrupt halt as all eyes zeroed in on the hated undercover Jedi Master and the two other Jedi who were with him.

' _So much for_ _ **not**_ _sticking out_ ,' Anakin couldn't help thinking derisively as he looked around at the crowd, trying to judge the likelihood of a fight breaking out.

"Hello, Kanata," Vos greeted kindly, quite indifferent to the sudden change in atmosphere. "I need to speak with you in private."

Wearing a none-too-pleased expression, the elderly creature considered the man for a moment before beckoning them to the side into an adjacent room. A few moments later, behind a thankfully locked door, the three Jedi found themselves gathered around a small, circular table. Vos took the center seat across from the diminutive Maz, looking as relaxed and comfort as could be expected. Obi-wan sat to the side, alert but not overly concerned. Anakin stood behind the two elder Jedi, arms behind his back as he glanced continuously around the room as he tried to stretch out his awareness.

"I see you're still in business," Vos said easily as soon as Maz climbed up into her seat and get situated.

"No thanks to _you_ and you showing your face here _again_ ," Maz said grouchily, glaring at Vos heated. "Do you have _any idea_ how much business you cost me each time you show up here, Quinlin Vos? _Do you?_ Unlike you Jedi, we lesser folk must _care_ about our reputations in order to do business and get _repeat_ customers!"

"It sounds to me like you two have a very…colorful history together," Kenobi said quietly, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. It wasn't often he got to see Master Vos get verbally flayed, much less by someone so much smaller and less physically imposing.

"Three times— _THREE! —TIMES!_ —this Jedi has come _barging_ into my establishment, picked a _fight_ , and killed or scared off my _customers_ for _months_ at a time! All just to arrest a thug or such that he could've _waited_ another ten or so minutes later to get ahold of!" Maz snapped, glancing at Kenobi.

" _Three_ times?" Vos said sounding surprised. "I could've sworn it only happened twice. The slaver Hugo and the bounty hunter Grecko—"

" _And_ the Ugla Brothers!" Maz interrupted.

Vos paused for a moment, thinking. Once the memory came to mind, he waved his hand dismissively. "Technically, I wasn't here for them and _they_ attacked _me_ —"

"It was a _fight_ and you _willingly_ took part in the chaos that _trashed my home!_ " Maz snapped out. "Honestly, you Jedi have become so casually dismissive of collateral damage these past centuries! It's like you've forgotten some of your core values and virtues of being Jedi!" The statement wasn't quite true, closer to an exaggeration. But it held enough truth to it that it brought a small sad sigh from Kenobi, a bored eye-roll from Vos, and a glare from Anakin, who'd been quietly observing everything up to this point.

Shaking her head in a visible effort to clear her dark thoughts and annoyance towards the Jedi, Maz turned her attention back to the Jedi again. "So, Quinlin Vos, what brings you to my door _yet again_?"

"I believe you already know," Vos said levelly. "Two days ago, a Republic convoy was hijacked by a small group of pirates. We know they came here and I'd like all information you have on them, particularly where they're going next."

"I'd hardly consider a few missing crates of _vegetables_ to be enough to warrant a full team of Jedi to track these 'pirates' down," Maz said dismissively. "Did they _kill_ anyone? Did they cause any massively expensive _collateral damage?_ What could be so valuable about these _vegetables_ to need you to go after them?"

"They damaged a heavily-used mountainside roadway and stole _1.5 million_ credits' worth of vegetables from the _Republic!_ " Anakin couldn't stop himself from snapping impulsively at the dismissively old woman. "Is _that_ not grounds enough to arrest them?!"

Anakin ignored Kenobi's reproachful look for speaking up so rudely. He was more focused on Maz as she merely glanced up at the boy for a moment. Then, as she was returning her attention back to Vos, she flinched and snapped her gaze back up to him with wide, surprised eyes. Eyes that were made even more expressive thanks to her goggles. This reaction was noticed by all three men, Vos and Kenobi sharing a confused glance. Maz ignored them as she suddenly climbed up and stood up upon the table, moving forward and quickly grabbing ahold of Anakin's face before he could pull away. Vos and Kenobi moved aside to give her more room as she moved forward.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked, trying to hide his nervousness. Maz ignored him as she tilted his face one direction, then another, pulling at his skin to better expose his eyes more to the light with one hand while the other adjusted her goggles. Quickly growing annoyed, he reached up and pulled her hands away as he glared at her. "What—are—you—doing?"

Humming quietly, Maz seemed to come back to herself after a moment. She moved back to her seat as she began saying, "I apologize, young one. It's just that you…" Dropping back into her seat, she continued. "When you've lived as long as I have, you start learning how to recognize certain characteristics that get passed down through the generations. Eye colors and shapes, facial structures, body types, even hair colors." Catching on to what she was referencing, Anakin's gaze hardened as he focused more of his attention on her. Seeing that gaze, Maz chuckled softly, "You look…so much like them, it's almost uncanny."

"Like who?" Anakin demanded. Then a bizarre thought came to his mind. "Did you know my mother?"

Shaking her head, Maz chuckled again softly before turning her gaze back on Vos. "I do have a list of planets and stops that the ones you seek will be making. But when you find them, _don't_ jump to conclusions! Watch, listen, _learn_. _See_ what it is that they are doing. Maybe you will _change your minds_ about arresting them. Maybe _they_ can teach _you_ what the Jedi have long since _forgotten_ about."

Before any of the Jedi could question her vague statement, Maz hopped off her seat and headed for the door. The three of them just glanced at one another, unsure of what to make of what had just transpired.

With her back to the Jedi, none of them saw the small grin that crossed her face as she moved to the next door over. Unlocking the storage room, she paused briefly to stare inside at it. The room was filled from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with crates that had the Cerean government logo on them. Maz's grin grew as she relished in the irony of the situation. They may have only been one room over, but the Jedi would likely never find the 1.2 million credits' worth of vegetables she'd purchased from the Skywalker kids.

Quickly grabbing the list of planets she'd given to the kids, she reset her expression and returned to the Jedi, ready and willing to send them off on a wild bantha chase.

* * *

 **12:10:01 GrS  
Dantooine**

After making their required detour to Denon to drop off Lonnvy's share of the loot and using their new funds to purchase more fuel and fresh foodstuffs from the local market, the _Dandy Eagle_ began its cargo run. They flew up to the galactic north, bouncing on and off the major hyperspace routes to visit remote or obscure planets. And, as they came in for a landing outside a settlement set near a hilly plain, this stop on Dantooine would likely be their last one. As he was going through the landing sequence and shutting down the freighter, a commotion back inside the ship quickly drew his attention.

" _Come back here, you overweight glob of grease!_ " Sparky yelled, firing off several blaster shots. A loud, terrified shrieking droid call erupted as this was happening. Despite curious and worried, Luke forced himself to stay where he was and finish the landing sequence, trusting Leia or Tes'chi to handle whatever was happening back there.

"What's going on?!" Leia cried out as she shot out of her and Tes'chi's quarters.

But, not entirely paying attention to where she was going, she slammed into a fleeing astromech and got knocked to the floor as a result. The astromech recoiled in surprise at the unexpected impact. This moment of surprise cost the droid what precious little time it had before Sparky arrived, grabbed ahold of its antenna and bodily picked it up off the floor while pressing his blaster rifle up against its head.

"Now, _hitchhiker_ , you're in _trouble_ _ **now**_ _!_ " Sparky declared triumphantly in a strangely singsong voice.

"Sparky, wait!" Tes'chi barked as she helped Leia back to her feet. Both girls were staring at the two droids in confusion with narrowed gazes.

"What's going on?" Leia demanded again, looking sternly at the unknown droid. "Who's this?"

The battered and filthy green C1-unit started warbling and chirping frantically, trying to explain itself before the aggressive guard droid blew its CPU from its casings.

"Slow down!" Leia ordered, only able to catch pieces of what the droid was shrieking about. "Now, who are you? What 'master,' 'important information,' and 'secret rendezvous' are you talking about? And, Sparky, put it down."

After Sparky reluctantly did as ordered, the astromech introduced itself as C1-QR. Once done, it spun its head around and started squawking reproachfully at Sparky.

"Oh, really?" Sparky said in a dangerous tone of voice as it shifted its rifle down into a more convenient position. "Would you prefer to be torn apart, melted down, or just blasted into oblivion, droid? Because I will happily accommodate you on any one of those!"

"Enough!" Leia interrupted firmly, glaring at both droids. "Sparky, Tes'chi, go start unloading the last of the cargo! I'll deal with this snarky, little rust bucket."

"Of course," Tes'chi agreed easily, bowing slightly which was more out of habit than anything. Turning, she grabbed Sparky's arm and started forcefully pulling the droid back down the corridor towards the main cargo hold, where it'd found the astromech in the first place.

Once they were gone, Leia looked down at C1-QR again. "Now, again, what were you talking about? And why are you on our ship?"

In hushed tones, the droid explained what its master had sent it to do. Its master had discovered something important and dangerous during his time at the bank and given the droid the data to ensure that if anything bad happened, it could get the information to the right people. The droid had been keeping in regular contact with its master since they'd had to separate and go into hiding, until about two weeks ago when his master failed to check in again. C1-QR was 98.464% certain that its master had been discovered and was now deceased.

"So, if that's true, where do you intend to take this information now?" Leia asked, curious. What could be so important for this droid's master to do something so paranoid as this? And if it was that important, where would he possible willing to send this information to and why?

A chirped reply caused Leia to recoil in surprise, wide eyed. "Alderaan?!"

At C1-QR's questioning warble, she shook her head before giving it a small, sad smile. "Sorry, it's just…Alderaan was my home once and I…I miss it very much." C1-QR warbled in acknowledgement, rocking its body as though nodding in understanding.

Sighing, Leia turned to look to the side where she spotted her brother leaning against the side of the hallway. He had a thoughtful frown on his face as he watched and listened. "Alderaan?"

Looking between C1-QR, who'd just now noticed his presence, and his sister, Luke shrugged. "Don't see why not. If nothing else, it'd be interesting to see what Quirky there's carrying and it'd be nice to see Mrs. Organa again."

Leia nodded with a sad smile. Turning back to the newly-named Quirky, she pat its head softly as she said, "After we finish up our business here, we'll take you to Alderaan. I promise."

Quirky just rocked in acknowledgement again.

* * *

The sight of a pair of young children, a blue-skinned young woman, and two droids pushing or guiding a series of crates out of their ship towards the small settlement was curious enough to draw the small number of residents out of their homes and away from the little businesses. The settlement itself was clearly that of a ram-shackled hamlet of cobbled together buildings surrounding a decaying homestead that must've been centuries old. There were a few speeders here and there, but they were rusted and likely didn't run as well as they used to. The populace of the small hamlet couldn't have numbered more than fifty, mostly humans but with a random mixing of Twi'lek, Duros, and even an old Ithorian. Coming to stop just outside the main street of the hamlet, the _Dandy Eagle_ crew popped the lids of the containers, revealing a large number of green, golden, and colorful vegetables and fruits inside each crate.

"Who wants free food?!" Leia called out loudly, her small voice managing to carry over the crowd skillfully. "We've got everything! Meats! Fruits! Vegetables! Cheeses and dairy! Even candy for the kids! _For free!_ "

That shout easily and instantly drew a crowd of the townsfolk. The kids and Tes'chi all smiled widely as they passed out the food to the hungry people who came to them. Glancing over at her young masters and, dare she even think of it, friends, Tes'chi's smile widened slightly. This was why she stayed with them for so long. Watching as they handed out the food, seeing the relieved and delighted reactions of the people, and feeling as though they'd helped make the galaxy a better place in a small way. This…This feeling of happiness and giving, without even a thought of a reward for their services. This was why she stayed with them. They may have only been younglings, but they had hearts of gold and such raw talent to do and become anything they wanted. Seeing them like this, it made everything they did all worthwhile.

Quickly turning back to what she was doing, Tes'chi smiled with a spreading blush when one particularly handsome farm boy close to her age came up and made some stumbling attempts at flirting. She couldn't help but giggle at him for this. With a few whispered words, she promised to meet with him later.

This was another perk for why she decided to accompany the kids.

* * *

Night was coming, coloring the skies with reds, oranges, and purples. The last of the fruits and vegetables had been taken and/or eaten. And the townsfolk had long since returned to their daily routines. Everyone was starting to bunker down and prepare for the coming night. Sparky and Quirky had returned to the _Dandy Eagle_ to begin recharging themselves for the next day while Tes'chi had wandered off to meet with a local boy, probably for a romp in the hay.

Luke and Leia stood outside the _Eagle_ , going through a series of katas that they'd developed on their own from months of sparring and training. Leaping into the air, they performed a trio of rapid punches before finishing with a powerful kick. Landing lightly on the ground, they sprung backwards into a short burst of handsprings before sliding into a crouches and thrusting their hands forward into a palm strikes. Twisting around, they raised one arm up in a defensive block, still rotating their bodies and snapping out a strong kick that would've hit a man's jaw easily. Spinning around slightly, they crouched down as they thrust their arms outwards to the sides, palms out and fingers locked together. And that was the end of their little kata.

Rising up from the crouch, the siblings shared a look with one another.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Luke said, looking off to one side.

"Yes," Leia admitted, also looking off into the distance. "There's… _something_ out there, calling to me, to _us_."

"And it feels…strong, but muted, forgotten," Luke finished, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Guess we should investigate, eh?" Leia said, already heading up the _Eagle_ 's ramp.

A few minutes later, the two children were flying over the grasslands on a pair of small speeders. Following their senses, they headed into the hills, swerving around blba trees and rocks, and avoiding a pack of wild kath-hounds and any other wildlife they could see. After nearly an hour's journey, they came upon a man-sized cave that was cut deeply into an especially large, rocky hill. Parking their speeders, the duo entered it cautiously, lighting their glowrods as the darkness deepened.

"I sense a lot of activity in here," Luke said quietly, yet his voice still carried disturbingly loudly. "A lot of life forms."

"But also that strange pull as well," Leia pointed out, just as quietly.

"Think we should keep our weapons ready? Just to be safe?" Luke asked, his hand moving towards his blaster pistol.

"Might as well," Leia said, grabbing her lightsaber and igniting its green blade. Technically, it wasn't really _her_ lightsaber. It was the one that Luke had snatched away from the Hunter five years ago. But she had more or less taken it as her own since she was usually the one in the thick of the fighting, even if she never really felt comfort using it.

With the enhanced green light of the saber aiding, they were able to make a fairly good distance into the cave tunnels before they caught sight of movement. They had just entered into a large cavern that had a series of tunnels branching off in different directions. And waiting for them inside that cavern was a creature that they could sense was very hungry and very dangerous.

"Kinrath," Leia uttered in disgust at the spindly-legged creature that turned and towered over them.

The spider-like creature let out a hissing roar before it charged them. Jumping to opposite sides, the siblings watched as the creature skidded to a stop and spun around to face them again. It hesitated for a moment, no doubt trying to decide which child to go after first. Finally making its choice, the kinrath rushed at Luke with another roar. Dodging its flaying, poisonous stinger, Luke shot his blaster into the base of the appendage, trying to limit is mobility.

The kinrath roared again, this time in pain. With pain-induced rage and strength, the creature rushed forward again and slammed into Luke, knocking him back into the wall. As the boy floundered to recover his footing, the kinrath came in for the kill. But it had forgotten one minor detail: there were _two_ of them inside the cavern with it. Leia descended upon the kinrath, sinking the lightsaber blade deeply into its stubby torso with her own war cry. The kinrath roared, flaying and bucking violently, throwing Leia off of it but causing her to lose her grip on the saber. Landing on her feet off to the side, she and Luke watched with quiet indifference as the kinrath entered its death throes, the lightsaber still deeply protruding into its torso. When it finally died and collapse limply to the ground, Leia reached out and drew the lightsaber back to her hand.

Walking away from the corpse, the children nodded at one another before turning to look at the different tunnels they found.

"My gut is telling me to go this way," Luke said, pointing toward the tunnel on the far left.

"And mine says this way," Leia gestured towards the centermost one.

Glancing at one another, they simply nodded in understanding before walking towards their chosen tunnels.

* * *

 **12:10:01 GrS  
Jedi Temple, Coruscant**

He was meditating again, searching. It had been years since that fateful day, but he hadn't given up hope. If there was one thing that Yoda had learned through his many centuries of life, it was the importance of patience. It had taken him several months, but he had begun to faintly be able to detect those two powerful Children of the Force again. He could never quite get close enough to get a clear image of them, not like that first one he'd glimpsed on Alderaan. But he had been able to catch flashes of strong emotions, bursts of power and the intent behind them, and even a sense of the general vicinity they were in.

The two of them were quite busy, always traveling, always moving, always getting into some kind of mischief. He had watched they journeyed from one world to the next, helping people when and how they could, fighting crime lords and pirates, and watched as their strength and grasp of the Force grew by leaps and bounds. Their rate of growth was nothing short of phenomenal, rivaled only by Anakin Skywalker whenever the youth would bother applying his skills in that area.

Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. He didn't necessarily 'watch' them do those things. But he was able to piece together a variety of clues that they'd left behind and figure out where they had gone and what they'd done. The first true such clue he'd ever uncovered was news of a violent and devious crime lord on Nar Shaddaa being outed by the Hutts. Strangely, the Hutts who were responsible for the crime lord's downfall had actually sent a message of thanks to the Jedi Order. They had claimed that they had received intelligence of the crime lord's backstabbing dealings from a young Padawan of theirs and wished for the Council to send along their gratitude to the youngling.

Though confused by what the Hutts were speaking of, the Council had accepted the message graciously before conducting their own investigation on this event. What they found was what they'd suspected, there had been no Padawan on Nar Shaddaa at the time of the crime lord's bust. And yet the Hutts were positive that they had been dealing with a Jedi Padawan? There was certainly evidence to back it up, lightsaber scorch marks where a fight had broken out and a faint Force Echo of an especially powerful individual that had lingered. Adding this evidence to what he'd remembered sensing of the Children at the approximate time of the event, and Yoda knew who was really responsible.

Since then, Yoda had been tracking their progress as regularly as he was able to, trying to pierce the growing cloaks of concealment the Children wore to protect themselves from discovery. He had tried to find a pattern to their movements and actions, but could never quite get a basic and consistent schedule to work. They traveled at random throughout the galaxy, sometimes operating in the Outer Rim, sometimes exploring the Expansion Regions, and sometimes even skulking around the underbelly of Coruscant itself. What were they up to and what were they hoping to accomplish? But the most he could manage to glimpse these days was a thick and almost impenetrable cloak of darkness, clouding his vision so much that all he could see where vague shapes and shadows moving about in the darkness therein. The Dark Side was growing ever stronger.

Suddenly, his vision changed.

Like a blind man who'd been floundering about in the darkness and then suddenly could _see_ , Yoda could _see_. He watched as the two Children he'd been searching so long for entered a cave. He drew back slightly, observing the planet they were on and recognizing it as Dantooine after a few long moments. Zooming back in, he found the pair inside what he knew were the ancient crystal caves of the old Jedi Enclave that had once been on the planet. Even if the Force was still quite strong on the planet, those caves were reputedly picked clean millennia ago, so what were they doing here? Did they know about that? Or did the Force call them there for some reason. He settled in to watch and learn about them.

They dealt with the kinrath easily enough, even if they didn't have to necessarily kill it. But when he saw them take separate paths, he understood. The Force had indeed called them here. Maybe they were here to undergo a Trial or maybe to harvest a crystal? Splitting his attention, he watched both carefully.

After moving through her tunnel for a fair distance way, the girl came to a stop as he sensed the Force fluctuate around her. He couldn't see or hear what it was that she was experiencing because it was all in her mind, but he could sense her rising levels of distress, fear and anger pulling at her strongly.

" _Stop it_ ," he heard her utter in a hurt voice. " _That's not true! I'm on Dantooine, not Alderaan! Stop it! STOP IT!_ " She fell to her knees as she grasped her head in pain that was more spiritual than actual. The Force fluctuated again and she jerked her head up in surprise, fear bursting off of her in violent waves.

" _You… No, not you! Go away! Leave them alone!_ " Who was she seeing? If this Trial was anything like the usual Jedi Trials, then she must've been seeing the person who she feared most, but who could it be? Gasping, she fell back and tried scrambling away, but only backed into the tunnel wall.

" _Luke! Luke, get up! Help me!_ " At this rate, she was going to fail, Yoda realized as disappointment started to grow. The girl grabbed her head again as the spiritual pain increased yet some more. Then, he faintly heard her whisper, " _This isn't real. This isn't real. I'm on Dantooine. I'm…I'm scared. I'm scared_."

Then she paused, lifting her head slightly as her eyes seemed to widen slightly. " _I'm scared, but…so what? I've been scared **all my life!** And this…this isn't **real!** Why should I be scared of _**_this?!_ "** Bouncing to her feet, she hefted up her hands as she slid into a fighting stance. Fear and uncertainty still clung her, but she willfully ignored them as she glared at what she was seeing, though to Yoda it seemed that she was glaring at a stalagmite that was standing just in front of her.

" _You wanna fight?_ **_BRING IT ON!_** " With a powerful leap forward, the girl swung her petite fist at stalagmite. To Yoda's admitted surprise, when the girl's fist struck the stalagmite, it was the rock that was demolished and not her hand. While augmenting her strength with the Force was one thing, that didn't seem to be the case this time. Was that her natural raw strength just now?! How…interesting.

The same instant she destroyed that stalagmite, the Force fluctuated again before settling down. The girl blinked eyes rapidly as they cleared of the dust and induced Force vision. Coughing slightly, she backed away back to the wall and slid down exhaustedly.

At the same moment as this bit of drama was taking place, the boy was undergoing his own test of character. It had gone essentially the same way. The boy getting drawn into a vision of his worst fears, which Yoda assumed was him being taken back to his original home, separated from the girl—his sister, if he heard right—and forced to give up on his dream of exploring the galaxy and helping people. Then he had to watch as the people he cherished most were cut down right there in front of him.

But where the girl had recoiled in horror and fear, the boy lashed out in desperation to save and protect them, launching a strong blast of Force power. The powerful wave slammed into the wall, blasting it into rubble. Whatever happened in his vision, he had clearly failed as he collapsed to the ground, weeping while staring at a section of the wall. Then, raising his gaze, the boy's tear-stained eyes just gazed up blankly as the figure that stood before him that only he could see.

" _Do it then_ ," he whispered sadly. " _At least I'll be with them again_." He closed his eyes and nodded his head submissively. After a long moment, the Force shifted around him as it settled down as well.

"Big fears you've faced, youngling," Yoda said softly, his voice carrying across space and time. "Faced them well, you have indeed."

 _"Yes,"_ the boy said, his voice still wrought with emotion.

" _Who are you?_ " the girl asked, looking upwards at the glowing speckled projections he was emitting to reveal his presence.

"A simple guide, I am," Yoda said humbly. "Better question is, who are you?"

" _I'm Luke_ ," the boy said, lifting his head and cocking his head to side at the sight before him.

" _I'm Leia,_ " the girl answered, cocking her head to the side.

"Very strong, you are, in the Force," Yoda said. "Yet, for what reason? Wish to become Jedi, do you?"

 _"No,"_ Leia said quickly, looking down almost in shame at what she'd admitted.

" _I…don't know_ ," Luke admitted, uncertainly.

"Hmm," Yoda hummed thoughtfully before pointing out, "Yet undergo Jedi Trials, you just have."

" _I did?_ " they asked simultaneously, surprised.

"Yes," Yoda said, smiling in amusement. "Passed, you did. Very difficult test, this was. Test of character, test of self. Show you, teach you new things, about yourself, about the Force, it did." He was quiet for a moment, to let the two of them think over what he'd told them. "Tell me, why don't you want, become Jedi?"

" _The Jedi only help those who can pay for it_ ," Luke said quickly.

" _They may help manage the Republic, but they are completely submissive to the Senate and the Chancellor_ ," Leia answered, an unhappy look on her face.

" _The Jedi are supposed to be the guardians of the galaxy, bringers of peace and justice_ ," Luke continued. " _But they almost never come out to help the people on the Outer Rim. The farmers, herders, miners, people who live in hard places and suffer under crime lords, greedy businessmen, and pirates_."

" _The Jedi help keep the Republic safe_ ," Leia was saying. " _But they are too few and seem to always focus their efforts on only helping the politicians, not the common folk."_

" _There used to be a time when the Jedi were different_ ," Luke acknowledged. " _But ever since they'd relocated to Coruscant, they no longer seem to care about the people who struggle every day out in the Rimworlds._ "

" _I don't want to be a Jedi if it means I have to give up helping those who **truly** need it_," Leia said empathically, looking down sadly.

 _"But…"_ both children said quietly, simultaneously. " _I would…really liked to have been a Jedi one day_."

Humming thoughtfully at their arguments, Yoda said, "Good arguments, you have, youngling." Drawing himself out of his musings, he quickly continued, "Not of the Order, you could be. But, continue this path you are on, and _great_ Jedi you _will_ be."

After he said that, the Force around the children shifted again. He watched as their attentions were captured by a pair of glowing kyber crystals. The girl's crystal was glowing from the exposed shattered tip of the stalagmite she'd destroyed. The boy's was glowing from within a small crack in the wall he'd been staring at during his Trial. Moving forward and cautiously grasping the glowing crystals, Yoda's smile returned as he watched their faces light with awe and reverence at what they held.

' _Great Jedi, they_ _ **will**_ _be_ ,' Yoda thought as he finally withdrew from his meditation. ' _Whether_ _ **in**_ _the Order or_ _ **not**_.'

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( **Author's Note** ) Bigtime shout-out to my good friend **animefan29** for beta-reading and reviewing this chapter. Without him, this chapter would've undoubtedly not turned out quite as well. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please remember to review so that I know what's good, bad, and needs work to improve.

Previous Chapter Trivia Answer: The heist was inspired by the 2010 movie ' _The A-Team'_ , specifically the heist for the US money printing plates.


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